Jumping Through Time
by AnaDona
Summary: Karianne Conner was nothing special. She lived at home, went to university and loved Doctor Who. So what happened when one evening the Doctor appeared, along with a strange light? Was her reality really just a dream? OC along with 9/10/11.
1. Kari Conner

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, no matter how hard I might try at the moment. **

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is something that a friend and I were discussing a few weeks back. I know it probably isn't all that great, but we are having fun coming up with idea's and writing it. So, let me know what you all think. **

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Karianne was sitting in the garden at the back of the house, wrapped up in her coat and scarf. The candles on the table beside her, flickering as the breeze caught them slightly. She looked up from the screen of her laptop and at the stars above her. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright in the darkness overhead. She smiled to herself a little before drawing her attention back to the story she was attempting to write for her creative writing class.

She was struggling to get her head into her work, which was unusual for her. Usually the words just flowed and she couldn't stop writing, everywhere she went she had a pen and some paper in her bag in care an idea came to her. She had been sitting out there for hours, trying to get away from the noise of her father and his girlfriend arguing. She could still hear them shouting, and things breaking. Just a normal evening at the Conner household.

She must have read through what she had already written at least 12 times now, and she was still sitting there looking at the screen blankly. She finally decided to close the screen down, resting her hands on the now shut laptop. She turned her attention back to the sky and pulled her mp3 player out from her coat pocket. She put the small earphones in and hit the shuffle option. She let a grin form on her face as her favourite track came on.

Karianne had never been normal, she thought that normal was boring and tried her best to stand out. That would explain her taste in music. While most people she knew listened to all the latest chart tracks, she was into her soundtracks, mainly the one from her favourite TV programme ever, Doctor Who.

She closed her eyes and listened. 'I Am The Doctor' was filling her mind. She had her reasons for loving the show so much, it had been something her mother had first brought to her attention when she was little. It wasn't being shown at the time, but her mother told her everything about it and found old videotapes of episodes to show her. Then some channels started show the old ones, right the way back to the first Doctor in 1963. She was hooked, and it was her lifeline to escape the life she cared little for.

As the track ended she looked up at the stars again. The smile on her face fading fast. There was an extremely bright light in the sky, one that hadn't been there before, and was getting brighter. No it wasn't, it was getting closer.

"What the hell is that?" Karianne mumbled as she sat up properly and squinted, trying to look at it better. Whatever it was, it was moving pretty fast, and right in her direction. Karianne tried to get up but found that she was frozen, her body didn't want to move. She closed her eyes and told herself that it was all in her head and that she had been watching too much Doctor Who.

Then she felt a sharp pain in her head. She had suffered from migraines before but this was worse than any she had ever had before, and it had come out of nowhere. She slowly opened her eyes and looked back up at the sky. The light was gone, whatever it was it wasn't there any more and the pain in her head had lessened.

Karianne let out a sigh of relief, she must have just imagined it. She looked through her music, trying to find something that would not make her think of Doctor Who, but she couldn't resist playing the sound of the TARDIS landing. That rough grinding and wheezing noise that the magical blue box made when it arrived and left anywhere brought a smile back to her face. It made the final noise, the 'boom' that signalled its arrival and Karianne took the earphones out.

She frowned the instant she did. For some reason, she could still hear it, the sound of the TARDIS was ringing in her ears. She looked back down at her player, no she had turned it off. She quickly whipped her phone out of her pocket, it wasn't ringing, and there were no messages, so why could she hear it still.

"Oh, it's finally happened. I have finally completely lost it. Better go and tell dad to call the men with the funky jacket." Karianne said, shaking her head. Then she finally looked up. At the end of the garden there was a rather unusual breeze, stronger than it was anywhere else.

Karianne couldn't believe what she was seeing, slowly coming into focus was a police call box from the 1960's. She slapped herself a few times, just to make sure that she was actually awake. After the third slap, and a rather loud cry, the sound she had been hearing stopped.

Her heart was racing. She didn't know how any of this could be real. It was just a show that she had watched for as long as she could remember, it was not real, that's all she could tell herself.

Just to prove her wrong the door to the blue box flew open and a man came into view. He was tall, a mess of dark, floppy hair and dressed in a tweet jacket and a bow tie. He was looking around, as if he was making sure it was safe, then he spotted Karianne sitting there, gawping at him.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that." He said as he stepped out of the box.

"You didn't scare me. If a Dalek had come out, that may have scared me slightly. What would have been more terrifying would have been if I was surrounded by Weeping Angels." Karianne said to him casually. Something told her to just play along with the little game, pretend it really was the Doctor and the TARDIS in her garden.

He stared at her, trying to work her out, before his face softened. "Okay. So, has anything weird happened here in the past, oh, say, 20 minutes?" The man asked her.

"Apart from you? Not really. Although, there was this, I don't know what to call it, light. Yeah, let's go with light. There was this light, in the sky and it seemed like it was heading straight at me. But then I closed my eyes and when I opened them, it was gone." Karianne couldn't understand why she was being so clam. Anyone else would have completely freaked out, but she wasn't, she was acting like it was just a normal day to her.

"Okay, a light, interesting." The man started mumbling to himself and then pulled out something that Karianne recognised immediately, his sonic screwdriver. He pushed it on and walked around the garden, the end lit green and buzzed away.

Karianne just sat there and watched him. "Looking for anything in particular?" She called to him as he carried on wandering.

He stopped and turned around to face her. "Oh, just had some strange readings, want to make sure it's…" He looked down at the screwdriver in his hand, it was making a very high pitched whirring noise. He frowned and looked from the sonic to Karianne.

"Well, have you found anything?" Karianne asked, not liking the look he was giving her. She had seen that look before, and it meant trouble, for her.

"What's you're name?" He asked her as he approached her.

"Karianne Conner. And before you ask, I'm human. Or at least I was the last time I checked, which wasn't that long ago. I don't have a zip on my forehead, so don't even think of poking at my head. I already have a headache." The man looked at her curiously.

"You're sure that you're human?" The man asked her. Something in his voice made Karianne have to think.

"Yes. I'm human, I thought I just told you that?" He pulled out his sonic screwdriver again and used it to scan Karianne. She didn't even bother to try and stop him, she just carried on sitting there, waiting for him to finish.

"So, you're human?" Karianne nodded at him, she was starting to get irritated now. If it was a joke, it wasn't funny. "Then why is this telling me that you're not?"

Karianne snatched the screwdriver out of his hand and looked at it. She don't know how she done it, she didn't know where she was looking, but she managed to read the scan results and confirm what he had just told her.

"But… but that's not possible. Oh, I really am losing the plot now aren't I? I mean, really? None of this is bloody real." Karianne said, moving her laptop onto the table. "You're not bloody real, the TARDIS isn't bloody real and neither are the people standing by the doors watching me shouting."

The man turned around to see a couple standing at the door's looking out. A girl with long red hair and a man with short dirty blonde hair watched her. "Why would you think none of this is real?" The man asked her. His voice was serious and his face concerned.

"Because it isn't. It can't be. It… just… oh, God my head hurts." Karianne put her head in her hands and felt everything spinning around her.

"Karianne, it's okay. When did this headache start?"

"After I saw that light thing." She mumbled through her hands.

"Right, Karianne, think you can stand up for me?" She nodded at him a little and pushed herself out of the chair. "Good, let's get you out of the cold, shall we?" She felt the man take her by the arm but she pulled back and grabbed her laptop from the table.

"You haven't even told me who you are yet." Karianne whispered as she let herself be pulled towards the blue box. "You know my name." She wondered what he was going to come out with, if he would let anything slip as to what was going on.

"Yes, sorry, how rude of me. I'm the Doctor." He told her as they approached the open doors. "And this is Amy and Rory." He gestured to the people who had moved out of the way so that the Doctor could lead her in.

"Blimey, I really don't feel too good." Karianne managed to say, before collapsing against the Doctor.

"Well, that's a new one. Passing out before even looking around." The Doctor said as he shifted Karianne in his arms so that he was carrying her.

"Who is she, Doctor?" The red haired girl, Amy, asked.

"Karianne Conner. That's all I know so far. But those strange energy signatures, they're coming from her." He looked down at the woman in his arms. Her brown hair seemed to have a golden shine to it. "I'm going to find her a room. Amy, could you pop the kettle on please?" Amy nodded at him as he made his way up the steps and out of the room.

The Doctor didn't walk very far before a door appeared in front of him and opened by itself. "Thanks dear." He whispered before stepping inside. He put Karianne down on the bed and tugged the laptop she had managed to hold onto away from her grasp. Something told him that it was important to her, she didn't want to leave it behind and was not happy to let it go. He put it on the small table by the side of the bed before unbuttoning her coat and taking off her scarf.

He pulled the covers over her and gave her one last glance before heading out of the room. There was nothing more he could do until she was awake, and that could be hours away. He was about to close the door when he noticed a golden glow starting to engulf Karianne.

"Oh, no." He rushed over to her side. "Karianne? Karianne, wake up. I need to explain something to you." He gently patted her face, trying to get her to regain consciousness. "Karianne, please, you have to wake up now."

Karianne finally opened her eyes. She looked at the Doctor and saw the concerned look on his face. "Doctor? What's…" She looked down at her hands and sat upright. "Ah, okay. This really isn't going to be much fun is it?" She was talking to herself mainly, forgetting that the Doctor was there watching her.

"Karianne, do you know what's happening?" He asked her in a panic.

"Yeah. I'm regenerating. Don't know how, don't think I want to know. I'd get away if I were you, Doctor. You know how this works." Suddenly her whole body convulsed and she screamed in agony.

After a few moments the golden light started to fade and Karianne's image became clearer. She was slightly taller, by about an inch or so. Her hair was more golden than it was before and it was longer, with soft curls. What really struck the Doctor were her eyes, they were also gold where as before they had been a dull brown.

"I was right, that really wasn't much fun. First and last time I ever do that thank you very much." Karianne said as she ran a hand through her hair. The Doctor just looked at her with his mouth opening and closing. She pointed at him. "You practicing being a goldfish?"

"But… but you were…" The Doctor didn't get to say anything else as Amy and Rory came rushing into the room.

"Doctor! What happened? Everything just went sort of…" Amy stopped when she saw Karianne. "Oh my God. Kari?"

Karianne frowned at her. "No, Karianne. Didn't the Doctor tell you that while I was unconscious?"

"But you were just… how can you?" Amy turned to look at the Doctor. "Explain?"

"This is Karianne, who is actually Kari. Long story short, she just regenerated from Karianne to Kari. This is the first time she has met us." The Doctor told them, making Karianne snort a little. The Doctor frowned at her.

"Sorry, this is just a bit too…" She paused, looking for the word. "River Song, for me."

"How do you know River?" The Doctor asked her curiously.

Karianne just ignored him and studied Amy and Rory carefully. She had spotted the wedding bands, so they were married. They were travelling with the Doctor and they seemed a bit too happy and in love. Honeymoon period, she thought to herself. "Has he taken you anywhere nice for you're honeymoon yet?" She asked without thinking.

"How did you know we were…" Karianne put a hand up to stop Rory from speaking.

"Wedding bands. Plus, you both look way to happy to have been married for years. So it has to be the honeymoon period. Therefore, he should have taken you somewhere amazing. But, since it's him…" She suddenly realised she was talking too much and put her hand over her mouth.

"Yup, that's Kari." The Doctor confirmed. His eyes were glinting in the light and there was a mad grin on his face. "Talks way too much and thinks she knows everything."

Karianne couldn't help but laugh. "Me? Talk too much? Sorry, but this just isn't me at all."

"Well no, not yet maybe, but it will be." The Doctor in told her, still grinning away.

"Oh well, too bad I'm going to have to wake up soon. I hope I didn't fall asleep in the garden again. I have to say, never had a dream this real and vivid before." She said, watching as the Doctor's face slowly changed from a grin to a frown.

"Why do you keep insisting that this is a dream?" He was curious. None of the people he had travelled with before had ever been this sure that it was all a dream.

"Because every night I dream of this. Well, almost every night. I dream about the places you have been, like Starship UK and Venice. Meeting Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. I dream about you're life, so if you are here in front of me, then it has to be a dream."

"Why do you say you dreamed them? You were there for a lot of them yourself." The Doctor was starting to get worried now. "Or at least you will have, at some point."

She couldn't help but laugh, she knew exactly what to say. "Time travel, its just a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff isn't it?"

"Exactly, you know that better than anyone else, Kari. I think we need to have a proper chat. Explain a few things. What do you think?" He said, gazing at Karianne's eyes.

"Sure, why not? What else have I got to do?"

The Doctor quietly spoke to Amy and Rory and they both left. The Doctor shut the door and let out a heavy sigh before turning and sitting on the side of the bed. "Kari, your dreams are real, to a certain extent. You're seeing what's going to happen, or has already happened. You've always been able to see it, the whole time I have known you. You know more about me than anyone I have ever met, and I don't even know how."

Karianne just looked at him, not knowing what to say or do. Was it possible that what she had thought was her normal life had in fact been the dream? Was this real? Was he real?

"I know it's a lot to take in and difficult to understand but you have to trust me." Karianne looked in his eyes, they really were ancient and full of sadness.

"I do trust you. You're right, it's a lot to take in. I thought I was human, and then a headache makes me regenerate. Certainly didn't expect that to happen." She laughed nervously.

"Well, to be honest, neither did I. But at least now I know how you first met me."

"It really is going to be just like River's time line isn't it? Keep meeting in the wrong order, never knowing who's done what. Suppose I should get one of those funky diaries as well." Karianne was trying to hide that fact that inside she was scared. Her world no longer made sense, she was living in her favourite TV show where the characters all seemed to know her.

"Just want to quickly clear something up. You don't know who River is yet do you?" She knew she needed to be careful with what she said if that was the case. She knew too much about what had happened and what was going to happen.

"No. But I'm guessing you do?"

Karianne smiled at him. "Spoilers."

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, it was you! You taught her that word didn't you?" He paused for a moment. "Wait a minute, what if you're River?"

Karianne frowned at him. "Have you ever seen River and I together for a long period of time?" The Doctor thought about it before nodding. "Well then, if River and I were the same person then that would most likely cause a massive paradox. Also, I know for a fact I am not River Song."

"Fair point. Okay, you are not River Song. Now, how are you feeling?" There was a slight hint of concern in his voice.

"I don't feel too bad. I'm not going to have a neuron implosion like you did." She saw a frown on the Doctor's face. "Come on, you know that I know everything about you, you said so yourself."

"Yes, but this is the first time you have regenerated, and you didn't even know you could do it. Something happened to you, Kari, something changed you. You were human, once, but now you're a Time Lord."

"Lady." She corrected him. "Technically, I'm a Time Lady. Do you know what it was that changed me?"

There was a sad look on his face and she instantly knew the answer. "I'm sorry, Kari. I don't know if we will ever find out."

"Do you have to call me Kari?" She asked him, wondering where he ever got that name for her.

"Yes. You told me, the first time I met you that you're name was Kari."

She shrugged. Kari, she could get used to that. She had never had a nickname before, and it was only a shortened version of her actual name. "Fair enough. I guess there's only one thing left to do now then." The Doctor raised and eyebrow at her. "Let's go travel through time and space!"

The Doctor led Kari to the TARDIS wardrobe. He thought that she was taking everything really rather well, and that just made him worry about her even more. There was still a lot that he needed to tell her, thing he had to warn her about, but he didn't want to scare her or worry her.

"You know, I think I can manage to find some clothes on my own." Kari told him as she started grabbing different items off the rails.

"I'm sure you can. But it's been a long time since I last saw you. Am I not allowed to spend some time with my… brilliant Kari?"

Kari turned and looked at him. Something was going on, she knew it, she just didn't know what. "Yeah, you're really bad a lying, Doctor. Tell me the truth, or I'm going to call River, I'm sure she'd love to come and spend some time with me as well." Kari knew what she was doing, she was pushing him. Since he didn't know who River was yet, he was still unsure of if he could trust her.

"I knew I never should have gotten you that psychic paper when you asked for it." The Doctor moaned.

"Ah, so I ask you for psychic paper and get it. Awesome." Kari giggle a little, this was perfect. "Spoilers." She grabbed a few more things and turned to the Doctor. "Are you going to watch me try on these outfits as well?" He shrugged and sat down on a beanbag chair. Kari rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I am never going to get any peace ever again am I?"

She tried on a few different outfits, the Doctor making sure to let her know what he thought of them. She eventually got his approval when she was wearing a sky blue top, which fell of her shoulders. The sleeves of it stopped a few inches before reaching her wrists. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts that stopped just below her knees. To complete her outfit she put on a pair of flat blue ballet style shoes.

"Right, let's get this party started then. Where are we off to first?" Kari asked excitedly.

"Actually, I was just about to drop the Pond's home before we took the little detour to pick you up." The Doctor seemed to be a little nervous for some reason. Kari knew that the Doctor would drop the Pond's off on Earth and they would see him around 3 months later. Except for him, it's rather different.

Then Kari remembered how old he was going to be and what was about to happen. Suddenly her face fell. "Oh." She whispered. She felt tears prickling her eyes, the next time Amy and Rory would see the Doctor… well it wasn't going to be fun or easy.

"Kari, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, wrapping an arm around her.

"Nothing. I… I just remembered something. So, what's the plan after dropping the Pond's off?"

"Well, if you're going to stay around we can go and do a bit of travelling ourselves. I've missed it being just the two of us. I love having the Pond's around, but it's just too quiet when you're not here. I miss it." To Kari's surprise the Doctor grabbed hold of her and hugged her tightly.

"Right, what are you not telling me?" She asked him as she pushed him away a little.

The Doctor looked at her sadly. She knew he was hiding something, she knew that look. "I've just really missed you. I didn't know when I was going to see you again, and I hate that. There's so much I want to tell you, but I can't because it hasn't happened for you yet."

"How do you think I feel? I know what's going to happen before you've even done it. It's not much fun really, is it?"

"Come on, let's go and see to the Pond's." The Doctor said before dragging Kari along with him. She knew there was still more he wasn't telling her, she just hoped that she would soon find out.

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**A/N: There are a few more chapters written and ready to be published. They will be published depending on how much people like it. I have my main story I am still writing. **

**So review. Let me know what you think, just don't be too harsh, I know this isn't perfect.**

**Pippa**

Pippa


	2. Smith and Jones Plus Conner Pt1

**Disclaimer: I own something! I own Kari!**

**A/N: Well hello there everyone. Thank you for the lovely reviews, and the follows and favourites. I have a lot planned for Kari, and I have actually ad to write out the plan. Time travel, just can't keep it straight in my head. **

**Anyways, remember to let me know what you think! **

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The Doctor and Kari ran into the TARDIS, laughing and smiling away.

"Seriously, Doctor, what did you have to tell him that for? He was going to have us beheaded! You couldn't have just waited until we could sneak out could you? No, you had to make a scene." Kari moaned as he ran around the console, getting them out of where they were, fast.

"Yes, well, I very much doubt he would have just let us leave. You were going to be his queen and I was going to be stuck as the court jester." The Doctor retorted.

Kari didn't know what had bothered the Doctor most, the fact that he was to become the court jester, or the fact that she was about to marry a king. Kari hadn't thought it was too bad, the King of Jalena was young and not that bad looking. She wouldn't have objected. In fact, she didn't object, the Doctor did.

"You were just jealous. Couldn't handle the fact that the king had a thing for me and not you." She joked, watching him get more and more frustrated.

"Oi, I was not jealous. I just didn't feel like being the court jester for several hundred years." He protested.

Kari burst out laughing at the Doctor's reaction. She soon stopped when she started feeling a little light headed. She stumbled over to the chair by the console and plonked herself down.

"Kari? Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, rushing to her side.

"Yeah, my head just feels a little fuzzy. Think I've got a headache coming on. I guess I might head to my room for a bit, have a little lay down." She said, trying to get up. The Doctor was quick to put his arm out and caught her as she almost hit the floor.

"I think you better stay here for a minute or two. Let me know if it get's any worse." There was concern in his voice.

Kari knew that tone, he knew something, there was something that he wasn't telling her. "What's going on? You're hiding something, Doctor, and you better tell me now." She demanded.

Before the Doctor had a chance to say anything Kari groaned in pain and held her head in her hands. "Oh, I don't feel too good. My head is seriously spinning."

"Kari, you need to listen to me. I'm sorry, I am really sorry, I know I should have told you sooner, I wanted to but I couldn't. It's time for you to go now, and I don't know when you're going to see me again, or when I'm going to see you. I'm sorry, Kari."

Kari lifted her head up slightly, only to notice that her hands were surrounded by a golden glow. "Doctor, what do you mean? What's happening to me?"

"I'm sorry." He said, stepping away from her.

She tried to get up but just fell to her knees. The pain in her head got worse and she cried out from the pain. She was scared and in pain and had no idea about what was happening to her. The Doctor knew, but he wasn't telling her. She closed her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her burning cheeks.

After what felt like forever for Kari, she felt someone put an arm around her as she huddled up on the floor crying.

"It's okay, Kari, you're safe." It was a man's voice, one that she recognised, one that she knew so very, very well. It was a voice that she loved.

The pain in her head started to ease and she pulled her head up and opened her eyes. There, on the floor beside her, was the Doctor, in his 10th regeneration. He was wearing his blue suit and Converse trainers.

"Doctor?" She whispered, not understanding what had happened or what was going on. He nodded at her, a sad smile on his face. "What happened? I wasn't here, I was… somewhere else." She knew she couldn't tell him that she had been with him in his future. He would probably ask to many questions.

"I know, you were with me at a different point in time. It's okay, you're fine, everything is going to be okay." He assured her, wrapping his other arm around her.

"I think you need to start explain things to me now." Kari told him as the pain subsided some more.

"Yes, I do. Come on, let's go and get a nice cup of tea and talk about it." He helped Kari off the grilled flooring of the TARDIS. He didn't let go of her hand the whole time he lead her to the kitchen.

They were soon both sitting down, a steaming cup of tea before them. Kari hadn't said a word, she was more confused now than she had been before. She had been pulled from what she thought was reality, was no longer human, and the rest, she couldn't even begin to understand it.

"Kari, you were pulled through time and space. Whatever happened to change you from human is what causes it to happen. We don't know why or how, the only warning we get is the headaches." The Doctor told her softly.

"So, I'm going to keep being dragged around like a bloody rag doll? And have to suffer those stupid headaches?" Kari asked him. She wasn't happy, and she still didn't fully understand, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

"I'm sorry, Kari. I can't do anything to stop it." Kari could tell by the Doctor's tone that he was being truthful, and that he really was sorry.

"So, how long have I got here with you?" Kari asked him as she took a sip of her tea.

"I really don't know. But, since you're here, why don't we go and have some of those adventures you love so much?" He couldn't help but smile at her. He knew that taking her somewhere would cheer her up, bring out her bubbly personality.

"Doctor, this is the first time it's happened, for me at least. Is it going to happen to me a lot?" Kari asked him quietly.

"Kari, you've been in my life for such a long time. You've always been there, since the beginning. I would say it is going to happen a fair amount." The Doctor told her, taking a hold of her hand.

"Seriously?" Kari asked him in shock.

"Kari, I've known you for most of my life. And you know everything about me. You know things I have never told anyone. I trust you more than anyone else in the universe, I always have and I always will." Kari just nodded at him, not really knowing what to say.

After sitting there in silence for some time Kari decided it was time to find out where he was up to. "So, what's been going on? I only know of a few times when you travelled in your own when you've looked this sexy." Kari quickly put her hand over her mouth. What had made her say that?

The Doctor just laughed at her comment. "All those centuries, I always wondered which regeneration you found the most attractive. Now I know." He was grinning away now, his normal mad grin.

Kari blushed furiously. She had always loved this Doctor, it wasn't just about the way he looked, it was his attitude as well. "Your ego just increased dramatically." She told him, still trying to hide her face.

The Doctor laughed some more. "Don't worry, sooner or later you're going to squash it again."

Kari shook her head and finally looked up at him. "So, come on. What's been going on?" The Doctor just gave her a sad look.

"Rose is gone. Met a woman called Donna. Been travelling around on my own since you last left." Kari put her hand over the Doctor's and gave it a squeeze. She knew how he was feeling. The loss of Rose had been so hard for him, they had been so close.

"Remember, Rose is alive. She may not be here, but you always have those wonderful memories of her. She's got her mum and Pete, and Mickey the idiot." She smiled at the Doctor, and he managed to smile back at her. "They will look after her. So you need to stop being miserable. If Rose could see you now, she'd slap you."

"I know." He said quietly, before getting out of the chair and taking Kari with him. "Right, let's see what trouble we can find." There was a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, I'm sure there is plenty for us to hunt down." Kari told him, letting a grin spread across her face as well. "Race you to the console." She called, running off ahead of him.

"Oi! That's cheating!" He shouted at her as he ran to catch up to her.

Kari was quick on her feet and made it to the console a good 30 seconds before the Doctor did. She threw herself in the chair by the console and sat there, patiently waiting. While she was there she noticed something on the scanner. She frowned to herself before hearing the Doctor coming up behind her.

"I think we just found our trouble." She told him, pointing at the screen.

The Doctor put on his glasses, Kari had to clamp her mouth shut. If she told him just how much she loved him in his brainy specs, it would increase his ego even more. That was something she really didn't need to be doing.

"Oh, plasma coils around a hospital. Let's go check it out." He said before pulling down a lever on the console. The TARDIS started shaking and the time rotor started up. Kari could feel the excitement building inside of her, she knew what was going to happen next.

Kari sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed, grinning away at the man laying there in his blue and white striped pyjamas.

"Good morning, dear." Kari said, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Morning, love. How was everything when you left?" Kari was still trying to work out how the Doctor had managed to convince her to pretend to be his wife.

"Same as yesterday, and the day before." She told him. He was asking if there had been any change with the plasma coils, or if the TARDIS had picked up anything else that might shed some light on what was going on at Royal Hope Hospital.

"Sorry, not really much of an adventure really, is it?" The Doctor said to her, looking a little sad.

"Not yet it isn't. And besides, I've been having some fun in the TARDIS while you haven't been there. You know, getting to know her better." Kari had a mischievous grin on her face, one which the Doctor knew well.

"You know what's going to happen don't you?" Kari just nodded at him. "Oh, I should have known this would be one of those times." He moaned like a little child.

"Stop your whinging. Everything turns out all right in the end. You do what you do best. Save lives and defeat the bad guy." Kari told him. She knew she couldn't tell him much more than that.

"Sounds like fun." The Doctor said to her, smiling away now.

"It will be, for the best part. I'd tell you not to say anything stupid but I know how sometimes your mouth functions before your brain has time to catch up." Kari told him with a smirk on her face.

"Oi!" He cried, lightly whacking her on the arm. "If anyone around here talks to much it's you."

Kari rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, and I wonder who I picked that up from." That earned her a frown. "You know I'm right." Kari told him as she folder her arms across her chest.

He let out a sigh, knowing he was beaten. As he did, a man walked over, followed by a group of medical students.

"Now then, Mr Smith, Mrs Smith, a very good morning to you. How are you today, Mr Smith?" The man asked the Doctor.

"Oh, not so bad. Still a bit, you know, blah." The Doctor told him, sticking out his tongue in emphasis.

"John Smith, admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me." The man said to one of his students.

She approached the bed smiling. "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?" She told him quietly.

"Sorry?" The Doctor was confused. He looked at Kari for help but she only shrugged at him.

"On Chancellor Street this morning? The pair of you came up to me, and you took off your tie before hanging it around her neck." The woman nodded towards Kari.

"Really? What did we do that for?" Kari and the Doctor were both confused now.

"I don't know, you just did."

"Not me, I was here, in bed. Ask the nurses. And my wife has been here with me all morning as well." The Doctor told her.

"Well, that's weird, cause it looked like you. Have you got a brother?" The student asked him.

"No, not anymore. Just me." The Doctor said sadly.

Kari noticed his quick change and knew how to perk him up. "Besides, why would I want to run around with his brother when I have the perfect husband here?" She said, grinning away. That worked and made the Doctor smile as well.

The man in charge let out a sigh. "As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones."

The woman apologised and got back to examining the Doctor. The first thing she did, was listen to his chest. Her eyes grew wide as she heard two hearts beating. She moved the end of the stethoscope from one side to the other, just to make sure. All the Doctor could do was smile and wink at her.

"I weep for future generations. Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?" The man asked her.

That seemed to shake her out of her thoughts. Kari couldn't help but smile. "Er, I don't know. Stomach cramps?" The woman said with a shrug. Kari mentally face palmed herself.

"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart." He picked it up and received an electric shock from it, causing him to quickly let it fall to the floor.

The students mentioned their experience with getting shocks from different things earlier that morning. "That's only to be expected." The man told them. "There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by…" He looked at his students. "Anyone?"

Kari smiled, she was going to beat the Doctor to it. "Benjamin Franklin." She said proudly.

The man gave her a warm smile. "Correct, Mrs Smith."

"My mate, Ben. That was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked. And then, I got electrocuted." The Doctor rambled on.

"Mouth before brain." Kari whispered to him. The Doctor looked at her then realised what she was telling him. He had started talking without realising what problems it could cause him.

"Moving on. I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric." The man said as the group followed him to the next patient.

Kari couldn't help but smirk. She had been right. The Doctor's mouth had got him into trouble already, and the real chaos hadn't even started yet. "What did I tell you? You engage your mouth before your brain is in gear."

"Yes, all right, I get it. Thank you." The Doctor said sulkily. "So come on, how much longer are we going to have to wait around for something to happen?"

Kari just grinned at him. "Spoilers."

"You know, I really hate that word." He was starting to get really grumpy now.

"Aw, it's okay, it's going annoy you even more in the future." Kari assured him. She remembered when the Doctor she had just come from, the Doctor in is 11th regeneration, had accused her of teaching the word to River.

"Oh, well that's just lovely, thanks." The Doctor said sarcastically.

Kari picked up the Doctor's hand and enlaced her fingers through his. "Cheer up, dear. If you're lucky the men in the white coats might come down with one of those jackets with the really long sleeves, just for you."

The Doctor frowned at her. "You're really not funny, love."

"I wasn't trying to be funny." Kari said, trying to hold in her laughter. "That man did say a trip from psychiatric. They might come and take you away." Kari forced a panic look on her face.

The Doctor's face fell when he saw her face. "Kari, it's fine. You know me, they wouldn't get very far with me. I wouldn't leave you on your own. I promise." He gave her hand a squeeze, she just gazed at him, her face still panic stricken. The Doctor didn't know what else to say to her to reassure her.

He was about to speak when Kari burst out laughing, rather loudly at first, earning glares from many of the others in the room. She quickly put her hand over her mouth to contain the sound of her giggles. She had never thought the Doctor would fall for that, she thought he was too clever to be fooled. "Oh, you should have seen your face. That was priceless." Kari eventually managed to say.

"Did you just trick me?" The Doctor asked her in shock. Kari looked at him, pretending to be innocent and smiled at him. "I can not believe I fell for one of your little jokes, again."

"I'm sorry. It was just too easy. I didn't think you would actually fall for it at first, but thanks for telling me that you do." Kari gave him a sly smile. He was giving her information on what she was going to do in her future.

He sat there sulking. Kari tried to apologise to him but he didn't want to know. He just ignored her. Kari glanced up at the clock on the wall, it was almost time. She needed to get the Doctor back on side before it all kicked off. "Doctor, I've said that I'm sorry, so you really need to put a smile on your face and get ready."

The Doctor didn't even look at her. He just carried on gazing out of the window to the other side of him. Kari let out a sigh, she needed to get his attention. She grabbed hold of his face and turn it so that he was facing her. "Cheer up. The fun's going to start soon." She said before pressing her lips lightly against his.

A smile instantly crept across the Doctor's face. "Come on then, let's go for a walk." He threw back the bed sheets and Kari passed him a dressing gown.

They walked along the corridors, hand in hand, chatting away. Kari dragged the Doctor past a staff room, knowing that Martha Jones was going to be in there. "I think, we should take a look out the window and then head back to the ward." Kari said quietly. She knew the Doctor needed to be there when Martha came in.

They made it back to the ward just before the whole building began to shake. The lights flickered and most people started to scream and panic. "Now it starts." Kari whispered.

"All right now, everyone back to bed, we've got an emergency but we'll sort it out. Don't worry." Martha Jones said as she walked into the ward and straight to the windows.

"I think you better get dressed now, Doctor." Kari told him, pulling the curtain around his bed and watching Martha, a smile on her face. She watched as Martha went to open the window, only for her colleague to wail about losing the air.

"But there not exactly air tight. If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. so how come?" Martha asked the woman on the floor beside her, trembling and crying.

"Very good point. Brilliant, in fact. What was your name?" The Doctor had gotten dressed and pulled back the curtain.

"Martha." The woman replied.

The Doctor took hold of Kari's hand and walked towards the woman. "And it was Jones, wasn't it?" She nodded. "Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?"

"We can't be." The other woman cried.

Kari rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously we are, so don't bother to waste any more time." Kari said before turning to Martha. "Martha Jones, what have we got? By the patients' lounge, we should go take a walk outside."

"Yeah, there's a balcony." Martha told her.

"Fancy going out?" The Doctor asked, looking from Martha to Kari. Kari just smiled madly at him.

"Okay." Martha seemed to be a little in shock at what was going on but was dealing with it all rather well.

"We might die." The Doctor warned her.

"We might not." Martha pointed out.

Kari smiled, as did the Doctor. "Good. Come on. Not her, she'd hold us up." Kari said, nodding to the woman sobbing away.

Kari marched through the hospital, dragging the Doctor along with her, although he didn't even try to object, with Martha following behind. She stopped at the glass doors that led outside, turned to the Doctor and smiled at him before pushing them open.

"We've got air. How does that work?" Martha asked in amazement.

"Just be glad it does." Kari told her, looking around at the sky, waiting.

"I've got a party tonight. It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's going to be really… really…" Martha trailed off. It was hard for her to keep focus when she had such a wonderful view before her.

"You okay?" Kari asked her, placing a hand on Martha's shoulder.

"Yeah." She replied quietly, her gaze not moving.

"Want to go back in?" He asked her.

"No way. I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same… it's beautiful." Kari couldn't help but smile at the way Martha was handling everything. Okay, she already knew how things were going to pan out, she knew how great Martha was going to be, but to actually be there with her, it was a completely different experience.

"You think?" The Doctor wandered. He had seen many things in his lifetime, seen so many wonders of he universe, he had never considered the view before him now to be one of them.

Martha gazed at him. "How many people want to go to the moon? And here we are!"

Kari let her smile grow a little bigger. "Standing in the Earthlight." She felt the Doctor's hand slip out of hers and he wrapped it around her waist. Kari just rested her head against him, smiling as she looked up at the stars and the Earth.

Martha looked at the pair, se felt that there was something odd about both of them. "What do you think happened?"

Kari turned her head and looked at Martha, still with that smile on her face. "What do you think?" She asked her. She knew she was saying things that the Doctor should have been saying, but for some reason, he seemed more distracted than he should have been.

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be. I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things. I had a cousin. Adeola, She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home." There was sadness in Martha's voice. Both the Doctor and Kari knew what had happened to her cousin, Adeola.

Kari knew it was also a tough topic for the Doctor, because that battle was where he lost Rose, his love. "I'm sorry." Kari whispered, reaching out for Martha's hand and gently squeezing it.

"We were there. In the battle." The Doctor had a distant look in his face. He didn't even realize that he had just told Kari that she was going to be there at some point in her future.

She nudged him a little to bring him out of his thoughts and back to reality. "Spoilers." She whispered, causing him to roll his eyes.

"I promise you, Mr Smith, Mrs Smith, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way." There was that sound of determination in Martha's voice, and hope.

"It's not Smith, that's not my real name." The Doctor told her. He noticed Kari about to say something and he quickly put a hand over her mouth to stop her. Kari looked at him, a frown on her face.

Martha eyed them both, not really know if she should trust people who lie about their names. "Who are you both then?" She finally asked.

"I'm the Doctor, this is Kari." He told her, his hand still over Kari's mouth.

"Me too, if I can pass my exams. What is it then, Doctor Smith?" Martha asked, wondering why his had was over to poor girls mouth.

"Just the Doctor."

"How do you mean, just the Doctor? And why have you got your hand over her mouth like that?" The confusion on Martha's face was evident.

"Just… the Doctor. And because my wife sometimes talks before thinking." The Doctor said, looking Kari in the eyes. It looked like he wanted to burst out laughing. Kari was more than just a little confused now. "Now, Kari, my lovely wife, if I move my hand, are you going to behave and not say anything silly?" The Doctor asked her in a rather sarcastic way.

Kari glared at him, the Doctor had seen that look from her before and it scared him. He instantly moved his hand away from her mouth and looked at the ground. "I think we need to have a chat later, don't you?" Kari whispered to him.

Martha just stared at the pair before shaking her head and bringing herself back to her sense. "What, people call you 'the Doctor'?" It was clear that she didn't believe him.

"Yeah." He told her simply.

"Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title." Martha's voice was harsh and firm. Kari knew what the Doctor needed to do next.

"Well, I'd better make a start then." The Doctor said, moving his arm away from Kari as she stepped forward to pick up a stone. "Let's have a look." Kari gave him the stone and watched as he threw it out over the balcony and to the surface od the moon.

They all watched as the stone bounced off something and ripples appeared, as if raindrops were hitting still water. "Some sort of force field keeping the air in." Kari mumbled, she couldn't wait for this part to be over. She wanted to get to the running.

Martha looked at them both in concern. "If that's like a bubble sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

"There would be roughly one thousand people suffocating." Kari said quietly. The Doctor looked at her, worry on his face, and quickly wrapped his arm back around her.

"Why would anyone do that?" Martha asked in utter shock.

Kari at the Doctor both looked to and saw some rather large spaceships arriving. "Head's up. Ask them yourself." The Doctor told Martha a creatures dressed all in what looked like black leather began marching towards the hospital entrance.

"Aliens. That's aliens. Real, proper aliens." Kari just shook her head. Martha was clever, and yet that was all she could think of to say.

"The Judoon." Kari and the Doctor said at the same time. They looked at each other and shared a smile.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it so far. If you have any questions, let me know. And yes, I am going to be splitting the episodes into 2 chapters. **

**Remember to review, you lovely, lovely people!**

**Pippa**


	3. Smith and Jones Plus Conner Pt2

**Disclaimer: I like fish fingers and custard.**

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, and sorry again! I was meant to post this several days ago, then I was going to post it yesterday but I had a slight car crash and I couldn't get my brain to function properly. But anyways, thank you all you lovely lovely reviews. You are all fantastically brilliant! Keep those reviews coming, on with the show...**

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They made their way back into the hospital and down towards the main entrance where the Judoon were storming in. They managed to find a little bit of cover in the form of some plants on a balcony that was overlooking the reception area.

"Oh, look down there, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop." The Doctor said excitedly.

Kari whacked him lightly on the arm. "Never mind the bloody shop." She let out a sigh. "You and your little shop."

Martha looked at the pair. "What are Judoon?"

"Galactic police. Well, police for hire…" The Doctor started, before being cut off by Kari snorting.

"More like interplanetary thugs." Kari pointed out. The Doctor nodded at her, she was actually right.

"And they brought us to the moon?" Martha asked curiously. She knew where they were, but how they got there was still a mystery.

"Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, so they isolated us. That rain? Lightning? That was them, using a H2O scoop." The Doctor told her.

"What's that about 'galactic law'? Where'd you get that from? If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?" Martha's brain was working overtime, trying to work out different theories and solutions. Trying to make sense of everything that was happening around her.

The Doctor beamed at Martha. "No. But I like that. Good thinking. No, I wish it were more simple. They're making a catalogue, it means they're after something non-human, which is very bad news for Kari and me." They watched as the Judoon shone lights into people faces before marking their hands with a black cross.

"Why?" Martha asked, receiving nothing but serious looks form both Kari and the Doctor. "Oh, you're kidding me." Kari shrugged her shoulders, as if not being human was no big deal. She didn't really feel any different to when she was a human. "Don't be ridiculous. Stop looking at me like that." Martha was getting more and more nervous now.

Kari nudged the Doctor a little. "I think we should move now."

The Doctor nodded at her. "Come on." He helped her up and led her away from reception, Martha following behind them.

At first they walked at a quick pace through the different corridors of the hospital before they ended up in a light jog. Kari was the one to stop them and drag them into a room, which she knew would have some computers in. Just what the Doctor needed.

The Doctor quickly sat himself down in front of one of the computers and whipped out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket. He started inspecting the computer, Kari sat on a chair gazing out of the window. While Martha had gone to check on the progress of the Judoon.

"Kari, you okay? You're rather quite." The Doctor asked her in concern.

Kari looked over at him and smiled. "Course I'm okay. Sorry if my quietness worries you."

The Doctor didn't get a chance to ask her anything else as Martha came rushing into the room, just as Kari knew she would. "They've reached the third floor. What's that thing?" She asked, nodding at the slim silver tube that the Doctor was holding.

"Sonic screwdriver." Kari told her, getting up from where she was and leaning on the desk by the Doctor.

Martha looked at her sourly. "Well, if you're not going to answer me properly."

The Doctor stopped and turned to face Martha. "No, really, it is. It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. Look." He said, turning his screwdriver on, making the end of it light up blue and emitting a whirring noise.

"What else have you got? A laser spanner?" She asked sarcastically.

"He did, but it was stolen by Emily Pankhurst." Kari told her, watching what the Doctor was doing, and forgetting that she was saying things that the Doctor should be saying.

The Doctor smiled at Kari, but she didn't smile back. "Cheeky woman." He said, before turning his attention back to the computer. He whacked the monitor before getting very frustrated. "Oh, this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down."

"Judoon platoon upon the moon." Kari mumbled, not paying too much attention to what the Doctor was telling Martha.

"'Cause we was just travelling past, I swear, we was just wandering, we wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, we wasn't, but Kari noticed these plasma coils around the hospital, and that lightning, that's the plasma coils, been building up for two days now, so I checked in, I thought something was going on inside, it turned out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair before giving Kari a concerned look.

"But what are they looking for?" Martha asked him, noticing the looks he was giving Kari.

"Something that looks human, but isn't." The Doctor told her, still watching Kari gazing off into space.

"Like you two. Apparently." There was some uncertainty in her voice. She didn't believe that they weren't human.

"Like us, but not us." The Doctor was worried, no he was more than worried, and it wasn't even himself he was worried about. He was more concerned about Kari. Not only was she acting very distant, but also if the Judoon found her, well, he didn't even want to think about it.

"Haven't they got a photo?" Martha wondered.

The Doctor thought for a moment. "Well, it might be a shape changer." He told her.

"Whatever it is, can't the pair of you just leave the Judoon to find it?"

Kari let out a sigh and turned to face Martha. "If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution."

"All of us?" Martha asked in shock.

"Oh yes. If I can find this thing first… Oh! Just that they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records. Oh, that's clever." He whacked the monitor to the computer several times before running his hand through his hair again.

Martha nodded, understanding that she needed to do something. "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know. Any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms." Both Kari and Martha could see how frustrated he was getting.

"Maybe there's a back up?" Kari said helpfully, trying to get the Doctor back on task.

Martha nodded at her. "Just keep working. I'll go ask Mr Stoker, he might know." Kari nodded back at her and watched her leave the room.

"Come on then, Doctor. Get that back up working," Kari tried to be cheerful.

"I don't like it when you're this quiet. It just doesn't seem right. I'm too used to you talking my ear off." The Doctor told her as he carried on working on the computer.

"Well, I'm struggling to believe that I'm going to talk as much as that. I've never been much of a talker, I like my quiet and solitude." Kari said as she pulled herself up so that she was sitting on the desk next to the computer the Doctor was working on.

"Usually I can't shut you up." The Doctor was smiling at her as he worked on the computer. "You can be very loud when you want to be."

Kari let out a few giggles. "Well, that is certainly going to be interesting when that time comes isn't it?" She paused for a moment, thinking of what happened earlier. "Is that why you put your hand over my mouth? Because you thought I was going to ramble on like you do?"

The Doctor didn't answer her, neither did he look at her. That just made Kari even more suspicious of him. "Doctor, you're hiding something. Remember, I know you. What's going on?"

He let out a sigh and turned to face her. He was about to speak when the computer started bleeping. "Ha! Restored the back up. Come on, let's go and tell Martha." He jumped out of the chair and grabbed Kari's hand, pulling her along with him.

They bumped into Martha after running along the corridor and turning the corner. "I've restored the back up." The Doctor announced, rather pleased with himself.

"I've found her." Martha told them, struggling to catch her breath from the running she had just done.

"You did what?" The Doctor asked in shock. Kari looked and saw two men heading straight towards them, luckily the Doctor had noticed them as well. "Run!" He shouted, grabbing hold of Martha's hand as well and dragging both the woman with him.

They charged down a stairwell, the men in leather still chasing after them. Then they noticed the Judoon coming up the stairs, straight towards them. Kari thought fast and dragged the Doctor and Martha through a set of double doors and into a corridor.

The Doctor smiled at her and pulled them toward the radiology room. He threw Kari and Martha behind the protective screen and locked the door with his sonic, leaving one of the leather men hammering on the door.

"When I say 'now', press the button." The Doctor ordered at Martha.

She looked at him blankly. "I don't know what one!" She cried, not knowing what to do.

Kari shook her head and grabbed the manual from the shelf and passed it to Martha. "Here, this will help you work it out."

The Doctor stood in the main area of the room, his sonic screwdriver in hand. He was frantically trying to get it to the right setting, while Martha was frantically trying to find the right button to press. Suddenly the door was broken off its hinges and one of the leather men walked into the room.

"Now!" The Doctor yelled, aiming some machinery at the leather man.

Kari noticed that Martha still hadn't found the right button to press. She rolled her eyes and slammed her hand down on the big yellow button on the control desk. The machine started up and the room filled with a bright light.

"What did you do?" Martha asked as the light dimmed and the machined stopped.

"I increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead." The Doctor told her, giving Kari a quick wink.

"Isn't that likely to kill you?" Martha asked. It was evident that she was worried about the Doctor.

"Nah, it's only radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you both to come out, I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it." The Doctor started hopping about, Kari was doing her best not to start laughing, at least not just yet.

"If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. Say, my left shoe. Here we go, here we go, easy does it…" He was now hopping about, shaking his foot, and that was all Kari needed to see to burst out in hysterics. "Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out, ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Ah – hold on." He quickly pulled his shoe off and tossed it into the bin. Kari was still laughing away, clutching her side as she did.

"You're completely mad. Both of you." Martha told them, not knowing if the Doctor's 'dance' or Kari's laughing was worse.

"You're right. I look daft with one shoe." The Doctor yanked off his other shoe and threw that in the bin to join the other. "Barefoot on the moon." He said happily, before realizing that Kari was still giggling away.

He stepped over to her and folded his arms across his chest. "Something amusing, dear?"

Kari took a deep breath and looked up at the Doctor. "Oh no, of course not, dear. Nothing amusing at all." She said, trying her best to keep a straight face. The Doctor frowned at her. Kari bit her lip but couldn't contain it any longer. She started giggling again. "Sorry, sorry. Just give me a minute."

"Is she alright?" Martha whispered to the Doctor.

The Doctor just let out a sigh. "Yeah, she's fine. She get's like this sometimes."

Martha just shook her head and stepped over to the leather man now lying dead on the floor. "So what is this thing?" She asked. "And where's it from? The planet Zovirax?"

"It's just a Slab." The Doctor told her, kneeling down beside her. "They're called 'Slabs'. Basic slave drones, see?" He tapped on the Slab. "Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

Kari seemed to have finally calmed down and was standing by the machine the Doctor had used to kill the Slab. She had a sad look on her face as the Doctor walked over to her. She nodded to his sonic screwdriver and he plucked it out of the machine.

"But it was that woman, Miss Finnegan." Martha told the pair. "It was working for her. Just like a servant."

"My sonic screwdriver." The Doctor whined, like a little child. Kari patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"She was one of the patients, but…"

"Burnt out my sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor continued to moan, with Kari still trying to reassure him.

"Oh, don't worry, dear. We'll get you another one. It will be okay." She told him softly.

"She had a straw like some kind of vampire." Martha continued.

"I loved my sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor moaned. Kari shook her head at him, this wasn't going to be the only time he had to save lives without his beloved sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor!" Martha cried in frustration. He hadn't even realised that she had been talking to him.

"Sorry." He said, before Kari pulled the screwdriver out of his hand and tossed it over their shoulders. The Doctor grinned at her before turning back to face Martha. "You called me 'Doctor'."

"Anyway." Martha said shaking her head. "Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr Stoker's blood."

"Funny time for a snack." Kari said, without really thinking.

The Doctor just beamed at her and nodded. "You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless… no. Yes, that's it, wait a minute. Yes!" The Doctor cheered. "Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it."

Martha just looked at the Doctor blankly, not understanding a word of what he had just said. Lucky for her, Kari knew exactly what to say. "If she can assimilate Mr Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she can register as human."

"We've got to find her and show her to the Judoon. Come on." The Doctor said, grabbing Kari's hand and running out of the room with her. Kari didn't care, she was actually enjoying herself, and she loved the running.

Once Martha had caught them up Kari stopped and pulled the Doctor down, motioning for Martha to do the same. They waited and watched as another Slab walked past the end of the corridor they were hiding in.

"That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs." The Doctor said, keeping his voice quiet.

"What about you two?" Martha asked, looking at the two.

"What about us?" Kari asked, a frown on her face.

"Haven't you got back-up? Come on, you must have something?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, I'm his back up." Kari said, grinning away and making the Doctor smile as well.

"You're his back up? Just you? No one else?" Kari wasn't too sure she liked the tone Martha was using with her.

The Doctor seemed to have noticed the change in her tone as well as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, humans. We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, and you're asking personal questions. Come on."

"I like that. 'Humans'. I'm still not convinced you're an alien." Martha said as they all got up and turned around. They were faced with several Judoon, shining a blue light into the Doctor's face.

"Non-human." The Judoon announced.

Martha looked at the Doctor in shock. "Oh, my God, you really are!"

The Doctor grabbed Kari's hand tightly, more tightly than he had done before, before grabbing Martha's hand as well. "And again." He said, before the trio started running some more. The Judoon were firing at them, but they made it to the stairwell and to another floor.

Kari looked around at the people, they all had marks on the back of their hands. "They've done this floor."

The Doctor nodded at her. "Come on. The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've already done." He started pulling Kari along with him again, and she noticed that he was no longer holding onto Martha's hand.

Kari just shook her head and looked at all the people in the corridor they were walking down. They were getting weaker, the air was quickly running out and soon, people were going to start to lose consciousness.

"How are you feeling? You both alright?" The Doctor asked, looking at the women.

"I'm running on adrenaline." Martha told him, grinning away.

He turned all of his attention to Kari. "What about you? How you doing?" Kari noticed the higher concern in his voice when he asked her to when he asked Martha.

"Oh, you know me." She told him, giving him a huge smile.

"Welcome to our world." He said to Martha, now that he was sure Kari was okay.

"What about the Judoon?" Martha asked the Doctor as they continued walking along the corridor.

"Great big lung reserves. It won't slow them down." Kari told her.

"Where's Mr Stoker's office?" The Doctor asked, not knowing which way to go.

"It's this way." Martha said, leading the pair along.

Once they made it to the room, it was empty, apart from the body lying on the floor. "She's gone. She was here." Martha said, looking at the pale body on the ground.

"Drained him dry. Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore." The Doctor said, inspecting the body.

Martha looked at the Doctor and Kari. "What was she doing on Earth?"

"Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro." Kari said as she stood up and started pacing the room.

"She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on." The Doctor took hold of Kari's hand again and started leading her out of the room. She yanked him back and waited for Martha who was kneeling down, closing Mr Stoker's eyes.

"Think, think, think. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" The Doctor was thinking aloud again. Kari lightly coughed and looked up at the sign on the wall. "Ah. She's as clever as me. Almost."

Kari rolled her eyes at him and was about to say something when they heard Judoon approaching from behind them. They were preparing to execute the non-human as soon as they found them, which was bad for Kari and the Doctor.

The Doctor bit his lip before turning to face Martha. "Stay here. We need time. You're going to have to hold them up."

Martha just looked at him in confusion, but Kari already knew what he was planning to do and had turned around. For some reason, she really didn't want to watch. "How do I do that?"

"Martha forgive me for this. It's to save a thousand lives, it means nothing. Honestly, nothing." The Doctor said as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lightly, leaving Martha more than a little stunned. He grabbed hold of Kari's hand again and they both started running again.

The Doctor kept glancing at Kari as they ran, she hadn't looked at him since they had left Martha. "It was nothing, Kari. It meant nothing." He assured her.

"You might need to tell Martha that again later." Kari said in a rather flat tone.

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, forcing Kari to stop as well. "Kari, it honestly meant nothing."

Kari shrugged her shoulders at her. "Sure, it's nothing to do with me." The Doctor cupped her face, much like he had done with Martha, and kissed her. He kissed her differently to how he kissed Martha, this was full of passion.

He pulled away from her, leaving her shocked and breathless. "Now that, was not nothing." He whispered to her, before dragging her into the MRI room.

"Have you seen them?" He said, noticing Miss Finnegan over by the machine. "There are these things. These great big space rhino things. I mean, rhinos from space. And we're on the moon. Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon." The Doctor rambled, keeping Kari slightly behind him. "And I only came in for my bunions, look." He lifted up one of his feet to show the woman. "I mean, all fixed now. Perfectly good treatment. The nurses were lovely. I said to my wife," Kari gave the woman a little wave form where she was standing, "said I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we ended up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos?"

The woman glared at both of them. "Hold them." She said. The Doctor and Kari were both grabbed by a Slab. The grip on their arms was tight, and Kari winced a bit at the pain shooting through her arm.

"Oi, get your bloody hands off us!" Kari shouted, not liking the situation her and the Doctor were in one little bit. She started struggling with the Slab, trying to get out of its grasp.

"Oh, you should learn to control your wife better." Miss Finnegan said, smirking as she stepped closer to Kari. Kari felt the woman's hand make contact with her face and her cheek started to sting.

"Is that the best you can do?" Kari said, taunting the woman. She knew that the Slab wouldn't be able to hold both of them when it came to her having a snack. Miss Finnegan snarled at her and nodded to the Slab who threw her back across the room, her head hitting the wall.

"No! Kari!" The Doctor shouted, seeing her eyes flutter closed. He watched her for a moment, her chest was still rising and falling, she was still breathing. He could feel the anger rising in him but he knew he needed to stay calm, otherwise people were going to die.

"That thing, that big machine thing, is it suppose to be making that noise?" The Doctor asked the woman curiously.

"You wouldn't understand." She replied, paying him no attention and keeping her focus on the controls for the machine.

"Isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of magnet? I did magnets at GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same." The Doctor said casually, glancing back at Kari, making sure she was still breathing normally.

"A magnet with it's setting now increased to 50,000 Tesla."

"Ooh. That's a big strong, isn't it?" The Doctor was trying to play dumb, he knew how strong it was, and what would happen.

"It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain-stems of every living thing within 250,000 miles. Except me, safe in this room." She was smiling at him smugly.

"But… hold on, hold on, I did geography for GCSE, I did pass that one, doesn't that distance include the Earth?"

"Only the said facing the moon. The other half will survive. Call it my little gift." She was still smiling smugly, it was making the Doctor even more determined to stop her.

The Doctor shook his head a little, still trying to play dumb. "I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the last fifteen years working as I postman, hence the bunions. Why would you do that?"

"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape."

"No, that's weird. You're talking like you're some sort of an alien." The Doctor said, pretending to be surprised.

Her smug smile grew even more. "Quite so." She was all too pleased with herself.

"No!" The Doctor cried is shock.

"Oh, yes."

"You're joshing me."

"I am not." She replied firmly.

"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital? What, has the place got an ET department?" the Doctor asked with wide eyes.

"It's the perfect hiding place. Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police some looking for me." It seemed that Miss Finnegan was quite happy to tell the Doctor all about her plans.

"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?" The Doctor asked her, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes. But I'm hidden." She told him, showing him the mark on the back of her hand.

"Right. Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans." The Doctor told her, knowing that it would make her panic.

The Doctor was right. Instantly her face fell. "They're doing what?"

"Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase out scans… up to setting two?"

"Then I must assimilate again." Miss Finnegan said in a bit of a panic.

"What does that mean?"

"I must appear to be human."

"Well, you're welcome to come home with me and the wife. I'm sure I can talk her round into forgiving you. We'd be honoured. We can have cake." The Doctor told her enthusiastically.

"Why should I have cake? I've got my little straw." She said as she pulled a straw out from her bag.

The Slab held the Doctor tighter as the woman approached him with her straw. "I'm afraid this is going to hurt. But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember." She said as she pierced his neck and began drinking his blood.

Kari was still unconscious, propped up against the wall when the door to the room burst open and a hoard of Judoon entered the room, followed by one Martha Jones. The Doctor's body fell to the floor.

"Now see what you've done. This poor man just died of fright." Miss Finnegan told them, hiding her straw back in her bag. One of the Judoon scanned the Doctor, and confirmed that he was deceased.

"No, he can't be. Let me through, let me see him." Martha's eye widened as she pushed through the Judoon to get to the Doctor. Something over the side of the room caught her eye and she noticed Kari and the fact that she was still breathing. "But it was her. She killed him. She did it. She murdered him." Martha told the Judoon, focusing on Miss Finnegan.

The Judoon refused intervene in the Doctor's murder, as they had no authority over human crimes, which just frustrated Martha even more. Martha pleaded with the Judoon, tell them that Miss Finnegan wasn't human, that she was the one they were after, but all Miss Finnegan done was wave her marked hand in front of her, the mark that she was human.

Then it all fell into place. "Wait a minute. You drank his blood? The Doctor's blood." Martha grabbed one of the scanners from the nearest Judoon and shone the light on Miss Finnegan. The woman was too confident, too arrogant and insisted they scan her.

"Non-human." The leader of the Judoon announced. Miss Finnegan's face fell.

"He gave his life so they'd find you." Martha said sadly. She had barely had a chance to get to know the man who was now dead on the floor. The man who died to save everyone in the hospital.

"Confirmed: Plasmavore. I charge you with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine." The Judoon stated.

Miss Finnegan confessed to the crime, gloating, saying how she was proud to have done it. It didn't take long for the Judoon to declare her guilty and sentence her to execution.

"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" She screamed as she was fired upon by the Judoon. She turned into nothing but dust, as did her Slab.

"What did she mean, 'burn with me'? The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something." Martha asked the Judoon as she rushed to the Doctor's side. Kari was starting to stir a little now.

"Scans detect lethal acceleration of mono-magnetic pulse." A Judoon stated.

"Well, do something! Stop it!" Martha cried.

"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."

"You can't just leave it. What's it going to do?" Martha asked. Kari pulled herself off the floor as the Judoon all started to evacuate and return to their ships.

"Blimey, that wasn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be." Kari mumbled as she stumbled across the room to the Doctor and Martha. "Martha, start CPR. I'll sort out the machine."

Martha looked at her. "But what's it going to do?"

"Martha, you really don't want to know. Just, help the Doctor. And remember, two hearts." Kari told her before dragging herself behind the screen and to the controls for the machine. She looked at the plugs, she couldn't remember if it was the red one or the blue one that she needed to pull out.

A few moments later she felt someone beside her. Kari looked over and saw the Doctor, struggling to stand just as much as she was. "I can't remember which one it is." Kari cried, feeling completely useless and stupid.

"What one do you think it is?" The Doctor asked her, looking at the plugs himself.

"Red." She told him, but she wasn't totally sure. The Doctor just nodded at her and pulled the red plug out. The machine powered down and became quiet. The Doctor smiled at her before taking her hand and both of them stumbling over to where Martha was now passed out on the floor.

The Doctor gently scooped her up, Kari held onto his arm tightly. Together, they walked through the hospital, all the staff, patients and visitors all now unconscious. They finally stopped and looked out of the window, watching the Judoon ships leave.

"Come on, come on, come on. Come on, Judoon, reverse it." The Doctor smiled as rain pelted against the windows. "It's raining, Martha. It's raining on the moon." He glanced over at Kari and saw that she was struggling to keep herself standing.

Outside of the hospital, the Doctor had his arm tightly wrapped around Kari's waist. "Are you sure you're okay?" The Doctor asked her for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I keep telling you, yes. Doctor, if it will make you shut up you can check me over when we get back to the TARDIS. How does that sound?" Kari knew that the only way to shut him up would be to let him take a look at her.

"Right, good." He turned and spotted Martha looking at them both. He nudged Kari and she turned around, both of them smiling and giving Martha a little wave before disappearing.

"Come on, TARDIS. I could do with a nice cuppa while you pretend to be a doctor." Kari said, heading towards the blue box.

"Oi! What do you mean 'pretend'? I'm the Doctor." He protested as he reached into his pocket to get the key for the TARDIS. Kari didn't answer him, she just grinned and put her hand on the door. It clicked open, much to the surprise of the Doctor and Kari, Kari would have fallen straight into the box if the Doctor hadn't been quick to tighten his grip on her and hold her up.

"That, was not funny." Kari said, pointing a finger at the time rotor in the centre of the console and wagging it. The TARDIS hummed a little in response, Kari just let out a sigh. "Oh, forget it." She said before plonking herself down in the chair by the console.

The Doctor sat himself down next to her. Kari grinned at him as he started playing with his new sonic screwdriver. "So, what did you think of Miss Martha Jones then?" She asked him, knowing where it would all lead.

"Is that a hint?" He asked her, not bothering to turn and notice the way she was looking at him.

* * *

**A/N: Well, what did you lovely people think? How long will Kari be hanging around for before she is whisked off somewhere else? And where could she go next? Of course, I know the answer to all those questions. But how much do you want the next chapter? **

**Remember to review! **

**Pippa**


	4. The Time of Angels

Disclaimer: I like bananas, bananas are good. Always take a banana to a party.

A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed, you really do make my day, so keep them coming!

I actually couldn't wait to write this episode. I have so many plans for River, it's all a bit exciting. Anyway, on we go!

* * *

Martha Jones stood outside of the pub where they were celebrating her brother Leo's birthday. There had been nothing but arguments and snide remarks all night and Martha had just about had enough of it all. She was about to turn around and walk back inside when she spotted the Doctor standing in an alley.

She followed him and came to a stop when she saw him leaning against a blue police box with his arm wrapped around Kari.

"I went to the moon today." Martha said, her family had not believed her. Well, who would, unless they had been there as well?

"A bit more peaceful than down here." Kari said, smiling away.

There was silence for a moment. "You never told me who you are." Martha said, watching the pair closely.

"The Doctor. And this is Kari." His grip around her waist tightened.

"What sort of species? It's not every day that I get to ask that." Martha seemed very excited.

"I'm a Time Lord." The Doctor said sadly.

"And what about you, Kari? What are you?" Kari froze, she didn't know how to answer that. They hadn't really spoken about what happened, and how she turned into what she is now.

The Doctor seemed to notice that she was struggling and stepped in for her. "Kari is a Time Lady. We're the same species."

"Right. Not pompous at all, then." Martha said with a snort.

"We just thought, since you saved my life and I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip." The Doctor asked, playing around with his new sonic screwdriver, which looked much the same as the one before.

"What, into space?" Martha asked, as if she couldn't quite believe what was happening. "I can't." She eventually decided to say. "I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad…"

"If it helps, we can travel in time as well." The Doctor told her, a grin on his face.

"Get out of here." Martha replied, her eyes growing wide.

"We can." Kari protested.

It was clear Martha still didn't believe them. "Come on now, that's going too far."

"We'll prove it. Let's go, Kari." The Doctor dragged her into the TARDIS and the blue box disappeared.

Martha stood there in awe, not knowing what to do when suddenly the wind picked up and the box reappeared where it had been before. The Doctor stepped out, his tie missing, and then Kari followed behind him, adjusting his tie around her neck.

"Told you." He said, beaming away.

"I know but… that was this morning! But… did you… oh, my God! You can travel in time!" Martha didn't know what else she could say. "But hold on, if you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go into work?"

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden." The Doctor told her.

"Except for cheap tricks." Kari said as she batted away the Doctor's hand that was trying to get the tie back. "Get off, it's mine now." She said as she defending it with her arms.

"And that's your spaceship?" Martha asked, looking at the box.

"It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space." The Doctor told her.

"Your spaceship's made of wood. There's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate." Martha said, inspecting the box a little.

A frown formed on the Doctor's face. "Take a look." He said, pushing the door open so that Martha could take a look inside.

Martha went in, and then ran back out again. Unable to believe that there was a huge room inside such a little box. "It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside." She said, appearing in the TARDIS again.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." The Doctor said as he shut the door. "Alright, then, let's get going."

Kari leaned against the console, smiling away. She never thought she would enjoy living the adventures as much as she did. It was definitely better to live through it all rather than watch it, even if you were facing deadly situations.

Then Kari felt a pain in her head. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that it would just pass, but her head started pounding more and more. "Doctor…" Her voice was almost a whisper. "Doctor!" She called again, but slightly louder.

He looked over at her and his smiled faded fast. "Kari, what's wrong?" He asked, putting an arm around her.

"Headache. I think… I'm wanted somewhere else now." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Kari, everything will be okay, I promise you." The Doctor told her, holding onto her tightly.

"Doctor, I don't want to leave you. I want to stay here." She pleaded, finally opening her eyes and looking at him. She could see so much sadness in his eyes.

"I know. But you will see me again, you know that." Kari nodded at him and the golden glow started to burn brighter. The Doctor pulled Kari's head up and kissed her lightly before letting her go and watching the light engulf her.

She kept her eyes tightly shut until she felt the pain start to ease. She slowly opened her eyes, looking at her hands. The golden glow was fading fast, she had been pulled through time and space, now she just needed to work out where she was.

She looked around and heard voices approach where she was. "A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for." A man said.

"A needle in a haystack." Kari's eyes widened, she knew that voice.

"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine." She also knew that voice as well.

"Blimey, Doctor. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of statues?" Kari shouted, knowing that would get his attention. "I think you deserve a smack for that one."

A moment later the Doctor appeared in front of her, his eyes wide and a smile was on his face. "Kari!" He called, laughing away as he bounded up to her and grabbed her, hugging her and swinging her around.

Kari couldn't help but laugh and smile as well. "Nice to see you too, Doctor." She said as he finally put her down.

He looked her up and down before frowning at her. "Is that my tie?" He asked, tugging a little at the tie around her neck.

"Oh, yes. I do believe it was your tie. Hasn't been your tie since you took it off and put it around my neck." She said, take it if off carefully and tucking it away in her pocket. Kari noticed the two women standing a little behind the Doctor now. "Amy! River!" Kari cried, pushing the Doctor out of her way so that she could reach the pair.

"Kari, where have you been?" Amy asked, as she gave her a hug.

"Oh, you know, around." Kari looked over at River. "Dr Song, I presume you have been behaving yourself?" She asked.

River grinned at her. "Course I have, darling." Kari smiled at her and threw her arms around her, both of them giggling away.

"Good. Now, where are we? Alfava Matraxis, lovely. Aplan temple with a Weeping Angel on the loose and a crashed starliner called the Byzantium. Oh, this is going to be… interesting." Kari wondered how she was going to cope with all the Angels. They had always scared her, and now she was stuck, surrounded by a whole army of them.

River smirked at her. "She thinks she's so hot when she does that." Kari noticed the Doctor blushing while Amy just looked confused.

"Oh, River. Why don't you just ask me out? We could make a lot of men jealous." Kari said, throwing her a wink.

"Sorry, darling. I think someone might object to that." River told her, still smirking away.

"Oh well, your loss." Kari said as she bounced back over to the Doctor. "So, did you miss me much then, Doctor?" She asked him as she watched him look around.

"I always miss you. I never know when you're going to show up again. Certainly didn't expect to find you in the midst of a catacomb." The Doctor told her, looking at her and giving her a smile.

"Well, I didn't expect to arrive in the catacomb. Last place I arrived was the TARDIS, was a lot more comfortable in there. Got to have a lovely cuppa before we went off exploring." Kari said, not paying any attention to what was around her. She knew what was going to happen, she just had to wait.

"So, where did you come from? I know when you decided to keep my tie, that was the day we met Martha Jones."

Kari giggled a little. "Just came from meeting Martha Jones." The Doctor just shook his head at her and concentrated on the handheld device he was looking at. Kari knew what was going to happen next.

"So, what are they like? In the future, I mean. Because you know them in the future, don't you?" Amy asked River.

"The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor." River replied without any hint of emotion in her voice. She was very good and not giving anything away. "And Kari, well, she's Kari."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

"Yes, we are." River said, looking over at the Doctor and Kari.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor called back, still pretending to work. Kari was holding in her giggles now.

"Talking about you both."

"I wasn't listening. I'm busy." The Doctor said, not very convincingly.

"I was listening." Kari called to River, a smile on her face. "And it's the other way up, Doctor." Kari told him before turning it up the right way for him. The Doctor mumbled his thanks, and that was all it took for Kari to let out her giggles.

She heard the Doctor groaning. "Here she goes again." Kari just whacked him around the back of the head as she tried to contain her laughter.

River shook her head. "Want me to make her stop?" She asked. The Doctor looked at her quizzically but nodded all the same. He couldn't concentrate while Kari was laughing away in the background. "Kari, come here." Kari stood next to River, who proceeded to whisper something in her ear.

Kari's eye grew wide and her face flushed red. "Shut up, River. That's not funny." Kari said, storming away from her and over to a corner on her own.

"What did you say to her?" Amy asked.

"Oh, just a little spoiler for her." River told her, grinning away.

"You're so his wife." Amy said smugly. She had been thinking, ever since she had met River that she was the Doctor's wife.

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?" River asked, risking a quick glance over at Kari who was still sulking in the corner.

"Yep."

River smiled at Amy. "You're good. I'm not saying you're right, but you are very good."

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and went over to Kari. "You going to sulk the whole time now?" He asked her, puling her away from the corner.

"Yes. I am. Got a problem what that?" The Doctor could tell from her tone that she wasn't happy about what River had said to her.

"What did she say?"

Kari refused to look at the Doctor, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the ground. "Spoilers." She said bitterly before kicking one of the statues. "Ow!" Kari rubbed her foot, thinking that maybe kicking a statue wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Wait, so, did she say 'spoilers' or is it something that you can't tell me because it would be a spoiler?" He was slightly confused.

"Can't tell you. Your future. My future as well actually. Bloody future." Kari moaned. She was really starting to set into her bad mood.

"Come on, it can't be that bad." The Doctor said, trying to get her to cheer up.

Kari glared at him. "Doctor, I know the timelines. I know what's meant to happen and what is going to happen. If what River said to me is true, then the timelines have seriously been altered."

The Doctor could tell from the look on her face that it was serious. "Listen to me, Kari. No matter what happens, we will get through it. We always do. You and me, together against the universe, just like we always have been." He took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Kari let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. You win, this time. But I'm still not happy." She warned him.

The Doctor could tell from the look in her eyes that she meant it. She really did have a fearsome glare, and her golden eyes just amplified that. "Right, now let's focus shall we? We have an Angel to track down." He planted a kiss on the top of her head and pulled her away to look at some more statues.

"Oh, I am so not looking forward to this." Kari mumbled, knowing what was soon to happen.

The Doctor frowned at her. "Is this your all knowing power speaking?" He asked her. Kari just nodded at him. He wanted to know if she knew what was going to happen, and of course, she did. "Any chance of a little help?"

Kari glared at him again, her eyes were starting to burn brightly. "You know I can't, so don't even ask." Kari let out a sigh, knowing that the Doctor only wanted to get this over with and get everyone out alive. "I will help you where I can. But you know I can't mess with the timelines."

"I know. I'm sorry. It was silly of me to even ask that of you." Kari gave the Doctor a small smile.

"Too right it was." She watched as the Doctor as he carried on looking around. "Doctor, has it been a long time since you last saw me?" Kari asked him nervously. She knew that she probably shouldn't have been asking about her future, in fact she knew that she shouldn't, but she wanted to know.

"Oh, not too long. You always come and go as you please." Kari frowned at him, she should have known he wouldn't say anything more than that. Unless he was distracted, maybe.

"Thanks for that. You really know how to make me feel at home don't you. Telling me I come and go as I please. I don't please, I don't have a choice remember." She glared at him again. She was definitely still in a bad mood.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Kari, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine. Forget it. I just wished that at some point I would be able to have a choice in the matter. But we both know that's never going to happen." She tried to pull herself away from the Doctor but he pulled her back.

"Kari, I'm sure that one day we will find out how to control it." He said, trying to reassure her and calm her down.

"Doctor, we didn't know how to do that in the past, we still won't know in the future. For all we know, this is always going to be my life. I don't even know what's going on half the time." The Doctor frowned at her. "Okay, I know what's going to happen, but I don't know what's happened."

The Doctor turned her so that she was facing him and held both her hands tightly. "Kari, I promise you, we will keep working on it. When all this is over, we'll run some more scans. There has to be something we can do."

Kari shook her head at him. "My guess is you've been running scans for centuries and still not any closer to working it out. This one time isn't going to be any different."

"You're right. This has been going on for so long, one day it will have to stop. I will make it stop."

"Doctor, you know that is never going to happen. My timeline is even more messed up than River's, and I know River's timeline." Tears were actually starting to build in her eyes now, she had only been pulled twice so far, but she knew it was going to happen so much more. She would be so happy to just stay somewhere, with one Doctor, permanently.

"Oh, my brilliant, beautiful Kari." He said, kissing her forehead. "No matter where or when you go, you will always end up with me. I will always be there, remember that."

Kari was about to reply to him when the sound of gunfire rang out through the chamber. The Doctor wasted no time in running off to investigate, with Amy and River close behind him. Kari, however, didn't bother to move. She stayed exactly where she was, looking at the statues.

"Look at you all. You might be able to fool the others, but you don't fool me. I know that every single one is an Angel. But don't you worry, they will work it out." Kari didn't blink. She winked one eye and then the other. She knew how to keep an Angel locked, and even though they were still restoring, they could still catch her if they really wanted to. Plus, she was rather scared of them still.

A few minutes later everyone else returned. "How's Sacred Bob?" She asked, noticing that he wasn't with them, well, he wouldn't be would he?

"A little scared. Which is good. Everyone should be scared." The Doctor said, glancing over at Father Octavian.

"Yup. Everyone should be scared. More scared than any of you realise." Kari said, and instantly Amy and River tensed up. "There we go, that's more like how scared you should be."

"Do you have to frighten the children?" The Doctor asked her as he took hold of her hand.

Kari smiled at him and started swinging their arms. "Yup." Was all she said, causing the Doctor to shake his head at her.

"Hey, I'm not a kid anymore thanks." Amy protested, her Scottish accent coming out very thick.

"Nope. But I've known you since you were a kid, Amelia Jessica Pond. The Scottish girl in an English village." Kari said, still swinging her arm and that of the Doctor's that she was holding. "I know everything there is to know about your past, present and future."

"Kari, love, you can stop any time you like." The Doctor whispered to her. It was his way of gently telling her to stop talking and leave Amy alone.

"Oh, well aren't you just a bundle of fun today." Kari moaned stopping the swinging and letting her arm hang by her side, but still holding the Doctor's hand.

"Mr Grumpy Face, I think Amy called me earlier." Kari turned and looked at Amy and she nodded in confirmation. "And I agreed. Weeping Angels, like you said, everyone should be scared."

The Doctor looked at her carefully, studying her, as if trying to work something out. "Stop looking at me like that. I am scared, I just decide not to show it."

"You also know what's going to happen." He whispered to her.

"Ah, correction, I know most of what's going to happen. There are always a few little alterations." She whispered back to him.

"Are you really scared or are you just saying that?" The Doctor asked her. Sometimes he didn't know if she was joking or being serious.

"Doctor, it's the Weeping Angels. If course I'm scared. From the first time I saw one, I could never look at a statue the same way again. Just like the bloody shadows and the Vashta Nerada." Kari paused for a moment, thinking. "Oh, that really isn't going to be a good day is it?" She wasn't actually asking the Doctor, she already knew what was going to happen that day, and it was one of the days she would never want to come.

Suddenly all the colour drained from her face. Just the thought of what was going to happen then made her feel like bursting into tears. She quickly turned and glanced over at River, walking behind a little, scanning around with her torch and looking at the statues.

The Doctor's grip on her hand tightened. Kari knew that he understood why she had suddenly gone so pale and quiet. She looked up at him and saw the sad smile on his face, he remembered that day as well.

They walked for a while in silence. Kari was trying to clear her mind, she just kept thinking about what was going to happen to River, how it all ended.

Amy finally broke the silence. "Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse? There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans." River told her, still looking at all the statues.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once." The Doctor said, giving Kari a worried and concerned look.

"Two heads are better than one." She said quietly, at the same time the Doctor said it.

River groaned. "Oh, please don't start doing that again. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"

The Doctor and Kari just looked at each other, both confused, before Kari turned to face River with a full smile. "Spoilers, Dr Song, spoilers."

Amy just shook her head. "What, you mean you helped him?" She asked, clearly trying to stop any conversation between Kari and River.

"No, I mean he had two heads." The Doctor told her before stopping and turning to River. "That book, the very end, what did it say?"

River stopped and pulled out the book on the Weeping Angels. "Hang on."

"Read it to him, River. He likes his bedtime stories." Kari said, earning a playful whack from the Doctor. She noticed that he seemed to have a slight tint of red on his cheeks.

River grinned a little before starting to read. "What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us."

"The time of Angels." Kari and River said at the same time.

River just rolled her eyes. "Oh, you just had to do that didn't you?" Kari shrugged her shoulders at her.

A while later, after a lot more walking, Amy started to complain. "Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb."

"The Maze is on 6 levels, representing the ascent of the soul. Only 2 levels to go." River told her. Kari had remained mostly silent since River read from the book, occasionally answering the Doctor when he asked her if she was alright.

"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time." The Doctor called back to Amy.

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy asked in confusion. Kari usually would have rolled her eyes at that point, but she knew what was coming next. She had to be on her guard.

"So is Virginia Woolf. We're on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having 2 heads, of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head." Kari knew that the Doctor was starting to ramble, because something was bothering him, and he said 'we're' and not 'I'm'. He had slipped up.

"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is…" River said, looking around at the statues more than she had been doing.

"Yeah, there's something wrong. Don't know what it is yet either. Working on it. Of course, then they…"

"Everyone shut up and stay still." Kari ordered. Her voice was strong and firm and everyone fell silent and stopped walking. "Doctor, River, take another look at the statues. Just look at them. Take a good hard look and think about what we were just talking about. Virginia Woolf, the chief architect."

"Oh." The Doctor said his eyes widening.

Amy looked at him, confused. "What's wrong?"

River's expression quickly changed to the same as the Doctors. "Oh."

"Exactly. Just thought I would point it out to you now." Kari said, gripping the Doctor's hand a little tighter than before.

"How could we have not noticed that?" River asked.

"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick." The Doctor said, moving his torch light from one statue to the next.

"What's wrong, sir?" Father Octavian asked.

"Nobody move. Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in terrible danger." Kari could sense the Doctor starting to panic now.

"What danger?" Octavian asked.

"Father Octavian, sir, the Aplans have two heads." Kari said, turning to face the man.

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"So why don't the statues?" She asked, knowing full well that the Doctor was thinking the same thing.

"Everyone, over there. Just move. Don't ask questions, don't speak." Everyone moved into a small alcove, everyone apart from the Doctor and Kari. "Kari, go stand with them."

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay with you." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand tighter.

He couldn't help but smile back at her. For as long as he had known her, she had never been one to take orders from anyone, especially not him. "Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches." He waited, and yet a cleric decided to question him.

"Just do it." Kari snapped, making the man, and everyone else, flinch slightly.

"Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment." The Doctor said, his hand ready to turn the torch he was holding off.

"Are you sure about this?" River asked. It was risky, none of them knew what would happen, apart from Kari.

"No." The Doctor admitted before flicking the torch off and then straight back on again.

"Oh, my God. They've moved." Amy cried in horror. The statue that had been in front of them now seemed to be closer than it was before, and it was in a different position.

The Doctor and Kari both ran around, looking the way they had come and along the passage. "They're Angels. All of them." The Doctor announced.

"But they can't be." River insisted, unable to come to terms with what was happening.

"Oh, but they are." Kari said quietly. "Clerics, keep watching them." She ordered as she followed the Doctor to look back down to the main cavern. All the statues down there were reaching out, trying to get them.

"Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us." The Doctor said once they had returned to the main group.

Fear and panic was starting to take River over. "But there was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear."

"Yeah, you're right, River. There was on the one Angel on the ship. These were here before. Guess we now know how the Aplans died out." Kari said. She wanted to get this over with now.

"They don't look like Angels." Father Octavian pointed out.

"And they're not fast. You said they were fast. They should have had us by now." Amy added.

"Look at them. They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving." The Doctor said, still inspecting the statues from a safe distance.

"Losing their image?" Amy asked.

Kari nodded at her. "Yup. And their image is their power…" She paused, waiting for the Doctor to realise. Clearly he hadn't caught on. "All that radiation spilling out the drive burn… the radiation that's dinner to an Angel…" The Doctor spun around to face her. His eyes were wide, he had finally caught on to what she was trying to tell him.

"The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army, and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast." River said, trying to think of some brilliant way to escape their current predicament.

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please." Father Octavian called over his communications device. "Any of you, come in."

There was silence for a moment before finally someone replied. "_It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir_"

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active, I repeat, all the statues are active."

"_I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir._"

The Doctor snatched the communicator from Father Octavian. "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor."

Father Octavian looked at the Doctor, a hint of anger on his face. "I'm talking to…"

"Where are you now?" The Doctor asked Bob.

"I'm talking to my…" Father Octavian said again.

"Oh, shut up." Kari snapped, no longer caring about being polite to anyone.

"_I'm on my way up to you, sir. I'm homing in on your signal._"

"Ah, well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast. Told you, didn't I. Your friends, Bob. What did the Angel do to them?"

"_Snapped their necks, sir._"

Kari quickly turned to Father Octavian, remembering what he was going to say next. She put a finger to her lips and glared at the man. He bit his lip and stayed silent. She knew what was coming next, and she wanted to hurry up and get to it. She knew she probably shouldn't do it, she shouldn't interfere, but she had to. "Yeah, Doctor, Angels don't kill, they displace you. Now, ask him how he escaped."

The Doctor nodded at her. "Bob, keep running. But tell me, how did you escape?"

"_I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me too._"

"What do you mean, the Angel killed you?" The Doctor asked.

"_Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something._"

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?"

"_You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion._"

The Doctor was more curious now than before. "So when you say you're on your way up to us…"

"_It's the Angel that's coming, sir. Yes._"

"No way out." The Doctor whispered.

Kari clapped her hands together. "Right, come on you lot, we go through the wreckage. Go, come on. Run!" She ordered, making everyone move.

The Doctor turned and smiled at her. "Angel Bob. Which Angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?" The Doctor asked.

"_Yes, sir. And the other Angels are still restoring._"

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you." The Doctor pulled Kari along with him as they started chasing after the others.

"Don't wait for us. Go, run." The Doctor called as they ran past Amy.

Kari stopped and pulled the Doctor back. "She can't." She whispered, remembering what was going to happen next.

"Why not?" The Doctor asked, looing between Amy and Kari.

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone." Amy cried. Her hand was clenched to the rail of the walkway they were standing on.

"You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?" The Doctor asked her, flashing his torch across her eyes.

"I couldn't stop myself. I tried."

"Listen to me. It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone." The Doctor told her firmly.

"It is. Look at it." Amy was sure her hand was stone.

"It's in your mind. I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go." The Doctor told her. Kari knew they were running out of time.

"I can't, okay? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

"The Angel is going to come and it's going to turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it. Concentrate. Move your hand." He told her as the torch started to flicker slightly.

"I can't." Amy insisted.

Kari let out a sigh. "Then we're all going to die. The three of us together. Not quite how I had imagined it, but oh well."

Amy looked at Kari in shock. "You're not going to die. Neither of you."

"They'll kill the lights." Kari reminded her.

"You've got to go. You know you have. You've both got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know neither of you can die here."

"Time can be re-written. It doesn't work like that." The Doctor told her, trying to make her see sense.

Kari glanced over to where she knew a statue would now be standing. "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink." She told Amy.

"Run."

"You see, we're not going. We're not leaving you here." It was the Doctor's turn to be firm and stubborn now.

"I don't need you to die for me. Either of you. Do I look that clingy?" Amy asked.

"Well, I don't think now is an appropriate time to answer that question. So how about I just do this instead." Kari said before biting down as hard as she could on Amy's hand. Amy cried out in pain. "See? Not stone. Come on, run."

"You bit me." Amy cried, nursing her hand.

"Yup, and you're alive. Funny that." Kari said as the Doctor tightened his grip on her hand. She couldn't help but notice the smile on his face. It looked like he actually wanted to laugh.

"Look, I've got a mark. Look at my hand!" Amy kept inspecting her hand as they ran.

"Yes, and you're alive. Did I mention?"

"Blimey, your teeth. Have you got space teeth?" Amy asked, going back to rubbing her hand to try and make the pain fade a little faster.

"Now that you mention it, yes I do. Brush your teeth twice and day and remember to floss. Keeps them nice and health." Kari said, trying not to laugh herself at Amy's reaction. She couldn't help but feel bad that she had stolen the fun of biting Amy from the Doctor, but she felt that it had been worth it.

They made it back to the others and all the lights were flickering, even the gravity globe. It also didn't help that the Angels were advancing on all sides, and they had no climbing equipment to reach the ship above them.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when one of you have a really good idea." River said, looking between the Doctor and Kari.

"There's always a way out." The chimed together, smiling at each other.

"_Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?_" It was Angel Bob again.

The Doctor rolled his eyes before pulling out the communications device. "Hello Angels, what's your problem?"

"_Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir._"

Kari noticed the Doctor frowning. "Why are you telling me this?"

"_There's something the Angels are very keep you should know before the end._"

"Which is?"

"_I died in fear._"

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor was slightly confused now.

"_You told me my fear would keep be alive, but I died, afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down. They also wanted you to know that she knew. She knew who was going to die, she knew all along and didn't say anything. She didn't even try to prevent the deaths."_

The Doctor looked at Kari, her face was a mixture of panic, fear and anger. "What are they doing?" Amy whispered to River, watching the Doctor and Kari closely.

"They're trying to make him angry, and her guilty."

"_I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that._"

The Doctor was starting to let his emotions bubble over. "Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"_What mistake, sir?_"

The Doctor held the communicator down by his side. The first thing he done was hug Kari. He knew that she couldn't have saved them, he knew that she couldn't mention any of it. None of it was her fault. Then he turned to River and Amy, asking them if they trusted him. Of course, they did. Then he asked Father Octavian, who only replied with telling him that they had faith. Then he pushed Kari away a little.

He tucked some of her hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. "Kari, it's not your fault. Never. Trust me?" She nodded at him and he kissed her quickly on the forehead before turning back to Father Octavian. "Give me your gun. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, jump!"

Father Octavian handed him the gun and looked at him, puzzled. "Jump where?"

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?" He asked.

"You won't miss it." Kari said, finally starting to pull herself back together.

"_Sorry, can I ask again. You mentioned a mistake we made?_"

Kari grinned at the Doctor, she had always loved this 'speech' of his. "Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"_And what would that me, sir?_"

"Me." The Doctor replied, and then he fired the gun up in the air.

* * *

A/N: Confused? Let me know! I will try to explain anything that is confusing.

Also, if there is an episode that you would like to see, then let me know. I already have quite a lot planned, going back to the 9th Doctor. So yes, if there is an episode you really want to see then just leave it in a review, or PM me, or snail mail, or carrier pigeon. Okay, maybe not the last 2.

Review review review! Please?


	5. Flesh and Stone Pt1

**Disclaimer: I like tea. Milk, no sugar.**

**A/N: Oh you lovely people and your wonderful reviews. You're all fantastic! Keep them coming. **

**I'm still interested in finding out what episodes you would like to see. So remember to let me know. **

* * *

Kari opened her eyes and instantly looked up. She let out a small sigh of relief, glad that the Doctor's plan had actually worked, even though she knew it would. She felt a pair of arms around her waist, pulling her off the ground. She shrieked a little in surprise before a hand flew over her mouth and she turned to see the Doctor.

"No screaming." He whispered to her. Kari just nodded her head and he moved his hand. "You alright?" He asked her as he gazed into her eyes.

"Well, I'm still alive. That's a bonus." She told him, grinning away. The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her and kissed her head quickly.

"Up. Look up." He told everyone as he looked around where we were standing.

"What happened?" Amy asked after River had helped her to get back onto her feet.

"Don't you remember, Amy? We jumped." Kari told her, glancing up every now and again.

"Jumped where?" Amy seemed to be very confused as to what had happened.

"Up, up. Look up." The Doctor said again, still wandering around.

Amy looked up. "Where are we?"

Kari let out a sigh. "Oh, Amy. We are exactly where we were." She knew that Amy still wasn't going to get it and that the Doctor was going to have to explain it a lot more.

Amy looked around at her surroundings some more before coming to a conclusion. "No we're not. Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain?"

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and stood next to Amy. Kari plucked the sonic out of the Doctor's hand and bent down, working on the hatch that he had just been working on. Leaving the Doctor confused. Kari just winked at him and turned on the sonic.

The Doctor smiled at her before turning to Amy. "Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?" He glanced down at Kari and saw she was still concentrating on getting the hatch open. "The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are."

"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now." Father Octavian pointed out as he looked up at the Angels, in the place that only moments ago, they were all standing.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army." The Doctor said before kneeling down next to Kari. "How's it going?" He asked her, just before the hatch opened. Kari ginned at him and gave him back his screwdriver.

"They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels." The Doctor said, keeping a close eye on Kari. She was now standing on the edge of the open hatch, grinning away madly. "Kari…"

She turned her head to face the Doctor and he saw a glint in her eyes, she was about to do something, he knew she was. "Geronimo." She said before jumping into the open hatch.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes before sitting on the edge, his legs hanging down the hole. "Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you." He said, before jumping down. Everyone rushed over and looked through the hole. "It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move."

The Doctor turned to Kari as the others made their way through the hatch and into the ship. "Don't do things like that. It scares me when you do things like that." Kari could hear the concern and seriousness in his voice.

"We both knew the gravity was still on. We both knew it was safe. You're just upset that I done it before you and nicked your favourite word." Kari told him, not understanding why he was so worried.

"Yes, but you should have let me go first, what if it hadn't been safe? What if there had been an Angel just… waiting?"

Kari frowned at the Doctor. "What's got you so worried? You aren't usually like this." Kari had to pause and think for a moment. Had there been a time when she had seen him so concerned in this way? "No, this isn't you. So what's wrong?"

"I just worry about you. I'm allowed to worry." Kari eyed the Doctor carefully, there was something strange going on, she knew there was. Only she didn't really know how to approach the situation.

"The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" Father Octavian asked as he and his clerics took up their positions in the corridor they were all now standing in.

"They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished." The Doctor said, having a quick look around before rushing to the door at the end that swiftly closed, leaving them somewhat stuck.

"This whole place is a death trap." Father Octavian stated.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic." There was loud banging noises at the hatch they had come through which the Doctor had managed to close. The Angels were trying to get in. "Oh, just me then." Kari took his hand and gripped it tightly. She really wasn't looking forward to what was going to happen next. It was amazing how quickly her moods could change.

The Doctor smiled at her, he could see that she was actually terrified. It wasn't very often that she let her emotions show, but when she did, the Doctor knew things were bad. "What's through here?" He asked, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the large door that was behind him.

"Secondary flight deck." River and Kari said at the same time. River looked at Kari, about to say something. But the moment she saw her eyes and the way she was gripping the Doctor's hand, she turned away.

"Okay, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy wondered.

"He's thought about that." Kari answered for the Doctor.

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it." The Doctor told her before turning back to the door with Kari still clinging to him. "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible."

River glanced over at him. "How impossible?" She asked, working away at a panel on the wall.

"2 minutes." Kari answered for him, seeing that he was busy. She pulled her eyes away from the Doctor and looked over at the hatch. It was now open, and the lights were flickering. She knew what was coming next.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing." Father Octavian called as the lights flickered some more. Then the shadow of an arm reached across the opening.

"Doctor? Lights." Amy was getting more and more concerned. Kari just stood there, almost frozen, beside the Doctor.

By the time the lights flickered on for more than a second there were already four Angels with them, and the hatch behind them closed. "Clerics, keep watching them." Father Octavian ordered his men.

"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes." Kari told them. "I find the shoulder a good place to look, or the hair. Have they all got the same hair? I should probably pay more attention at times." River and the Doctor both looked at Kari in concern, she was starting to ramble, much like the Doctor did.

"I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now." The Doctor said, giving Kari's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Good work, Doctor." Father Octavian praised him as he and his men kept their eyes on the statues.

"Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far." The Doctor said, gripping Kari's hand a little tighter. She looked up at him and nodded.

"So far?" Amy questioned.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control." The Doctor told them.

"Good. Fine. Do it." Father Octavian said, not taking his eyes off the Angels.

"Including the lights. All of them." Kari's voice was starting to get a little shaky now. She couldn't believe how scared she actually was.

"I'll need to turn out the lights." The Doctor confirmed, noticing how frightened Kari seemed to be now. That was something that was bothering him. She had been all smiles and jokes not so long ago, and now she was closing herself off.

"How long for?"

"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer." Father Octavian question the Doctor about the 'maybe' part. "I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this." Kari could see how frustrated the Doctor was starting to get now.

"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness." Amy reminded him. It was clear that she didn't like the idea of turning all the lights off, especially since no one knew how long the lights were going to be off for.

"No other way. Bishop." The Doctor said, standing beside the man.

Father Octavian turned to River. "Dr Song, I've lost good clerics today. You trust this man?"

"I absolutely trust him."

"He's not just some kind of madman, then?"

"I absolutely trust him." River said again, making the Doctor smile and head back to the door with Kari still holding onto him.

"Kari, everything is going to be fine. I promise." He told, giving her a quick one armed hug. All she did was nod at him. "I hate seeing you like this, you're so scared."

"Like I said, Weeping Angels. Being scared is a good thing right about now. Especially since you're about to turn off all the lights." The Doctor could tell for the quietness of her voice that he needed to get her out of there soon.

"I will be here the whole time. Right next to you. Okay?" Kari nodded at him. She knew that everything would be fine in the end, but she still couldn't help the way she was feeling. She had thought, that knowing what was going to happen would make her braver, not act like a coward.

"Okay, Doctor. We've got your back." Father Octavian called.

"Bless you, Bishop." The Doctor said, taking some wires from Amy and getting Kari to help him attach them to the door.

"Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste."

"Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns." The Doctor told her, still working away with Kari.

"Ten." Amy said, making Kari's eyes widen. That just reminded her of what was going to happen next, and it was making her feel sick.

"No, four. Four turns." The Doctor told her, keeping Kari with him the whole time.

"Yeah, four. I heard you."

"Ready!" The Doctor called, getting his sonic screwdriver into position and ready to go.

"On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!" Father Octavian called.

The lights went out and the clerics began to fire. Kari watched as the Angles moved closer each time they were in complete darkness.

"Doctor, it's opening. It's working." Amy called, as she turned the wheel and the door started to slide open a little.

"Fall back!" The Doctor called, making sure everyone went through the small gap between the door and the wall. He pushed Kari through just before he slipped in as the door closed again. They ran along the corridor which looked very similar to the one they had just escaped from. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver again and opened the door, ushering everyone inside.

The Doctor pulled Kari with him to the control unit in the room. "Kari, how you doing?" He asked her quietly.

She smiled at him a little. "I'm okay. Could murder a nice cup of tea if I'm honest. And some fish fingers and custard, that would be nice."

The Doctor frowned at her. "When was the last time you ate?"

Kari shrugged. "Um, pass?" She honestly couldn't remember. For her it had been at least 2 days, but it was hard to tell how time was passing for her since she was being pulled from one place to another. All she knew was that she was hungry.

"After this, fish fingers and custard and a cuppa. How does that sound?" He asked her, doing everything he could to get a real smile from her.

Kari let out a sigh, she knew what he was doing. "Oh, go on then. If it will keep you happy." She told him, before finally giving him that smile he wanted.

"Doctor!" Amy called, getting his attention. The Doctor and Kari looked at her and followed her gaze. She was watching Father Octavian. "What are you doing?" Amy asked as he placed some device on the door. The Angels were turning the wheel, trying to get in.

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now." Father Octavian told her confidently.

Kari smirked and watched as the wheel slowly started to turn again. "Yeah?"

"Dear God!" Father Octavian exclaimed in horror.

The Doctor grinned, noticing that Kari seemed to be a little more herself now. "Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time." He said.

"Well, be a bit pointless you being a Time Lord if you wasn't really, wouldn't it?" Kari told him, earning a whack on the arm from the Doctor and some giggles from River and Amy.

Another wheel started to spin around rapidly on another of the doors. Father Octavian and his clerics were quick to seal all the doors. But they were now surrounded. "Doctor, how long have we got?" He asked.

"Five minutes, max." The Doctor replied.

"Nine." Amy said, standing on the other side of the Doctor still.

"Five." The Doctor said, working away still.

"Five. Right. Yeah."

"Why'd you say nine?" The Doctor asked her, trying to focus on his work.

"I didn't."

Kari shook her head and kept helping the Doctor.

"We need another way out of here.' River said, stopping whatever she was doing on the console and looking to the Doctor.

"There isn't one." Father Octavian insisted.

Kari giggled. "Yeah there is. Course there is." She said, making everyone look at her, including the Doctor. "Sorry, Doctor, do you want to explain?" He smiled and shook his head, giving her the go ahead to keep talking. "Okay, so this is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" She asked, grinning away.

River gasped. "Of course." She gave Kari a huge smile.

"Of course what? What do they need?" Amy asked, she was getting lost in confusion again.

"Can we get in there?" Father Octavian asked, also realising what was going on.

The Doctor was hugging Kari but finally let her go and rushed over to the wall in front of them. "Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up."

"There's clamps." Kari called. "You need to release the clamp." The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver again and used it on the clamps.

"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy asked, still none the wiser as to what was going on.

"They need to breathe." Kari told her, grinning away as she stood by her and River. The three of them watched as the wall slid up.

Amy looked on in awe at what she was seeing. "But that's… that's a…"

"It's an oxygen factory." River told her, grinning away.

Clearly Amy was in utter shock. "It's a forest."

"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory." Kari told her, she couldn't help but smile. The sight of it really was amazing.

"And if we're lucky, an escape route." The Doctor said, having a quick look at the forest.

Kari's face fell a little when she heard Amy say 'eight'. She heard River ask what she had said but Amy claimed she didn't say anything. Kari just took a deep breath and went to join the Doctor where he was standing.

"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there." As soon as Kari was standing next to the Doctor he wrapped an arm around her waist. "You're brilliant. Did I tell you that?" He whispered in her ear.

Kari just shrugged her shoulders. "It may have been mentioned before." She said as she watched Father Octavian go into the forest and check everything out.

"But trees, on a spaceship?" Amy asked, she was smiling.

"Oh, more than tress. Way better than tress." Kari said as the Doctor dragged her over to one of the tress with him. "Amy, you are so going to love this."

"Treeborgs. Trees plus technology." The Doctor said, pulling a panel open on the tree. "Branches become cables become sensors to the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze."

Kari pulled the Doctor back into the room with the others. Grinning away madly, just like the Doctor. It was strange how some of his traits were showing through her.

"Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?" He asked her.

Amy let out a little laugh. "Seven."

Kari tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand. She knew that the worse was yet to come, but she knew what she could do to help.

The Doctor sense Kari's anxiousness. "Seven?"

Amy looked at them both blankly. "I'm sorry, what?" She asked, not realising what she had just said.

"You said seven." The Doctor said, studying Amy closely.

"No. I didn't." She protested.

"Yes, you did." Kari said nervously.

"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the sip, into the primary flight deck." Father Octavian said, coming back and joining the group.

"Oh, good. That's where we need to go." The Doctor told him, not taking his eyes off Amy.

"Plotting a safe path now."

"Quick as you like." The Doctor called back to him.

"_Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir._" The Doctor pulled Kari over to the white chair, pulling out the communicator from inside his jacket pocket and forcing Kari to sit on his lap, much to her surprise.

"Ah, there you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject." He said, grinning. Kari just shook her head at him.

"_The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve._"

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's thing's with you?" He asked, wrapping his free arm around Kari to keep her on his lap.

"_The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond._"

"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?" Kari went to whack the Doctor but he quickly grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers through hers.

"_We have no need of comfy chairs._"

The Doctor couldn't help but grin. "I made him say comfy chairs."

Amy and Kari laughed a little. "Six." Amy said, making Kari squeeze the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor pushed Kari up, letting go of her hand of only a second while he got up as well. "Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?"

"_There is something in her eye._"

"What's in here eye?"

"_We are_" Angel Bob answered.

"What's he talking about?" Amy asked as the Doctor and Kari stood in front of her. The Doctor was staring at Amy, trying to work something out. "Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine. I'm fine."

"You're counting, Amy." Kari told her.

"Counting?"

"You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes." The Doctor told her, still watching her closely.

"Why?"

"I don't know." The Doctor told her honestly.

"Well, counting down to what?"

"I don't know." The Doctor said again.

"_We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space_"

"Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship but nowhere near that much." The Doctor said, sitting back down again and expecting Kari to join him. She just shook her head and stood facing the wall behind him.

"_With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand. Only She understands._"

Then they all heard a screeching sound. It sent shivers down Kari's spine. River looked at her in concern. "What's that? Dear God, what is it?" River asked.

"_It's hard to put it in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing_."

"Laughing?" The Doctor didn't understand why, only Kari knew what was going on.

"_Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor and the TARDIS hasn't noticed._"

Kari held out her hands and pulled the Doctor out of the chair. "No, wait. There's something I've missed." He said, frowning at Kari. Kari didn't let go of his hands, she just walked around so that her back was now to the wall she had been looking at. She saw the Doctor's eyes widen as he saw what the Angels were talking about.

River and Amy both followed his gaze. The Doctor quickly ran around, taking Kari with him as she was still holding onto his hand, and looked at the crack in the wall closer.

"That's… that's… that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl." Amy said in shock, joining the pair.

The whole room started to shake. "Okay, enough. We're moving out." Father Octavian decided.

River nodded at him. "Agreed. Doctor? Kari?"

"Yeah, fine." The Doctor said, waving River off. He was still too interested in the crack.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the crack. "What are you doing?" River asked, watching him still.

"Right with you." He said, really not paying them any attention at all.

"We're not leaving without you." River protested.

"Oh yes, you are. Bishop?"

"Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!" Father Octavian ordered.

"You as well Kari. I'll be fine, you know that. Now go." The Doctor said, giving her a smile. Kari nodded at him and followed the others out.

Since Kari knew what was going to happen next, she stayed as close to Amy as she could. It didn't take long for Amy to start acting drowsy. Kari wasted no time in getting straight to the point. "River, get over here now. And bring the med scanner with you." River just looked at her. "Now!" Kari shouted.

"Four." Amy said, before becoming less stable on her feet and lying herself down on a mossy tree trunk.

In an instant River was there with Amy and Kari, med scanner in her hand and being attached to Amy's arm.

"Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving." Father Octavian told her, not realising how serious the situation with Amy was.

"We wait for the Doctor." River told him. It was clear she was worried about Amy as well.

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved…"

"Father Octavian, when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. God knows if it wasn't for Kari he probably wouldn't have survived as long as he has. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and I doubt Kari will either. And if he's alive…" Kari gave River a little nudge to shut her up. "And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah." He said, grinning away.

"I hate you." River said, looking over at him.

"You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest." The Doctor said before jumping of the trunk he was standing on and joining Kari and River with Amy.

"How did you get past them?" River as quietly.

"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."

"What was it?" Amy mumbled.

"The end of the universe." Kari said, passing the med scanner to the Doctor.

"So, what's wrong with me?" Amy asked.

"Nothing, you're fine." River told her calmly.

"Everything, you're dying." The Doctor told her honestly, earning a glare from River. "Yes, you're right. If we lie to her she'll get all better. Right, Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eyes. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"

Kari was sat there, playing with her hands. She didn't want to interfere, she knew she shouldn't, but she wanted to help.

"Doctor…" Amy mumbled, she wanted to know what was going on.

"Busy." He told her, focusing on the med scanner.

"Scared." Amy replied. Kari wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

"Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up. What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long." The Doctor looked over at Kari, hoping the she could help him. "Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and… and…"

Kari let out a sigh. "The image of an Angel is an Angel."

"A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that's exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind." The Doctor and River both gasped.

"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."

"Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that all about?" The Doctor stood up and pulled the communicator out from one of his pockets. "Bob, why are they making her count?"

"_To make her afraid, sir._"

"Okay, but why? What for?"

"_For fun, sir._"

The Doctor threw the communicator to the ground in frustration. Kari had made her decision now. She wasn't going to just sit there and watch any more. She couldn't let Amy suffer anymore. She knew what needed to be done and she was going to do it.

"Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain." Amy asked.

"Amy, be quiet and listen to me." Kari said softly. "There's basically an Angel living in your mind. In the vision centres of your mind. Now trust me and close your eyes."

"No. No, I don't want to."

"See, that's not you talking. That's the Angel inside you and it's afraid. Please, Amy. Close your eyes. You have to do this. Everything will be fine, I promise you." Kari was trying to keep as calm as she could.

Everyone held their breath when Amy finally closed her eyes. Kari let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"She's normalising. You did it. You did it, Kari!" River said, a smile on her face as she looked at her.

The Doctor scooped Kari up and hugged her tightly. "You, are amazing, Kari. Amazing. Even if it was your all knowing power, you're still amazing." He whispered to her before letting her go.

"Doesn't matter. Okay, too weak to move her." Kari said, looking around the forest, knowing that the Angels were getting closer.

"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy asked.

Kari let out a sigh and looked at the Doctor. "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes." He told her gently.

* * *

**A:N/ I actually loved writing the next chapter. I had so many ideas for it, but I ****couldn't fit them all in. So anyway, tell me what you thought, and if there is any episode you want to see Kari jumping around to.**

**So drop me a review, or even a PM if you want. I don't mind. **

**Pippa.**


	6. Flesh and Stone Pt2

**Disclaimer: I don't like getting up early in the morning. **

**A/N: Again I want to thank everyone for their reviews and to those who have requested episodes, I'm working on them! Now, on with the next instalment. **

* * *

"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on." Father Octavian called.

"We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway that's not the plan." The Doctor told him.

River looked at him. "There's a plan?" She asked, making Kari giggle a little.

"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. Kari, River, we're going to find the primary flight deck. Which is…" Kari watched the Doctor as he licked his finger, stuck it in the air and then pointed it. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels and cure Amy."

"How?" River asked.

"He'll do a thing." Kari told her, deciding what she was going to do.

"What thing?"

"I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!" The Doctor took Kari's hand but she quickly pulled it away.

"Yeah, I think it's better if I stay here with Amy." She told him.

The Doctor frowned at her. "What do you mean? Why?"

"Trust me. I have to stay here. Someone needs to protect Amy. I'm all knowing, remember." She said flashing him a cheeky grin.

He groaned a little but smiled back. "Okay, fine. But be careful and looked after yourself and Amy." He told her before hugging her tightly.

"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection." Father Octavian said.

"I don't need you." The Doctor retorted. Kari elbowed him lightly in the side, he was being rather rude.

"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go." He told the pair in front of him.

"What? You two engaged or something?" The Doctor asked, making Kari giggle a little again.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back."

"Doctor? Kari? Please, can't I come with you?" Amy asked from where she was sitting.

"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond." Father Octavian told her.

Kari and the Doctor went and sat down with Amy. "I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up." Amy said, not knowing they were right next to her.

"You'll be safer here. We can't protect you on the move. And Kari insists on staying here with you. I'll be back for you both as soon as I can, I promise." The Doctor said softly.

"You always say that."

"I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Kari, Amy, later. River, going to need your computer." The Doctor kissed Kari on the forehead as he got up and left.

"He will be back, Amy. I know he will." Kari told her. "I'm going to keep a watch with the clerics, I won't be far. Shout if you need me." She walked away from Amy as she saw the Doctor come out of hiding. She knew he wanted to talk to her, and she knew exactly what he was going to say to her as well.

She leaned up against one of the trees, her back to where Amy and the Doctor were. Not long later she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled up at the Doctor. "Don't you just hate repeats?" She said, not really knowing what else to say.

He looked at her sadly. "Yeah."

"You know, I'll never forget you." She told him, keeping her eyes locked on his.

"I know. My brilliant Kari. At least I get this chance to say goodbye to you properly."

Kari frowned at him. "Doctor, don't you dare say that. This isn't goodbye."

"We would of have so many wonderful, scary adventures together."

"And plenty of running to do as well. You can't forget the running." Kari told him, smiling at him. She wanted to tell him that this wasn't the end and that everything would work out fine, but she knew she couldn't.

He laughed a little. "Wouldn't be an adventure without the running would it?" He smiled, but only for a second. Kari couldn't help but notice how sad he was, and the fact that it looked like he wanted to cry.

"Doctor, this isn't the end. You understand that don't you?" She asked him, trying not to say too much.

"Kari, time can be rewritten. Time _is_ being rewritten."

"And sofa's can read." She pointed out, remembering that he would have mentioned that in his past, her future.

"Yes, they can. It's a big universe."

"Exactly. Nothing is impossible. Just a bit unlikely, yeah?" Kari knew she was just saying anything to get him to give her a real smile, but something was telling her that that was not going to happen.

"A bit like you, really." Kari kept on smiling at him as he took hold of both of her hands. "My Kari, the one person in the universe who fully knows and understands me. Always there for me, never letting me down. I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Kari told him, tugging at his hands to pull him a little closer to her.

"There's something I never told you, and maybe I should have. I should have told you such a long time ago." The Doctor looked away from her. It looked as if he was drifting into his own little world.

"Doctor?" Kari said, trying to get his attention. "Doctor?" Kari let out a sigh. "Theta?" She finally whispered.

He instantly turned and looked at her. "Been a long time since you called me that."

"There's a little Scottish girl in an English village, sitting out in her garden, waiting for her raggedy man to return to her. Maybe you should go pay her a visit, tell her a few stories. That one about the box, the old, new, borrowed, blue box."

"Little Amelia Pond. The girl who waited." The Doctor dropped Kari's hands and put his hands on her hips, pulling her against him. "But there's one last thing I have to do before I go." He slowly moved one of his hands from Kari's hips and placed it on the side of her face.

Kari leaned into his touch, and moved her own hands so that they were resting on his chest. She could feel her eyes filling with tears, but she was not going to let them fall, just like he was holding his tears back as well.

He leaned down and his lips touched Kari's. She knew her chest was pounding and where her hands where, she could feel both his hearts beating rapidly as well. Kari didn't care, and her hands reached up and ended up entangled in his hair. He was kissing her passionately, and she was kissing him back just as much. She was breaking every rule she had set herself since her life changed, but right now, she didn't care.

He eventually pulled away, leaving Kari very breathless. "That was the opposite of nothing." He told her before resting his head against hers. They both closed their eyes, both fighting back the tears.

"_Please don't leave me._" Kari whispered in her mind. Right now she would do anything to be able to go with him, but she knew she couldn't.

"_I never want to leave you, I'm sorry, Kari. I have to go now_." Her eyes flew open, but she didn't move. She saw the Doctor gazing at her. He had read her mind, and spoken back to her. "_Kari, I…_"

"You have to go." She whispered.

"Kari? Kari where are you?" Amy called.

Kari let out a sigh and looked at the Doctor as he pulled away from her, giving her room to move. "I'm here, Amy. Give me a minute." She called. When she turned back to face the Doctor, he was gone. She closed her eyes and let the tears stream down her face, Amy wasn't going to see them.

"Kari? What's happening out there? They won't tell me anything." Amy called. Kari knew that she needed to go and join Amy now.

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's the tree's Amy, they're going out." She said as she sat down next to Amy.

"Are you okay, ma'am? You look as if you have been crying." The cleric Marco asked her.

"I'm fine. Had a bit of dust or something in my eyes, and I was silly enough to keep rubbing my eyes." She told him, hoping that her cover was convincing.

"Angels advancing, Sir."

"Weapons primed. Combat distance 5 feet. Wait for it." Marco called to the others.

"What is it? What's happening? Just tell me!" Amy ordered. She was frustrated because she couldn't see, and I didn't blame her.

"Keep your positions and ma'am, keep your eyes shut. Wait… the ships not on fire, is it?" Kari followed Marco's gaze and saw the bright light filtering through the forest. She knew exactly what it was.

"It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it. Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?" The cleric called Pedro asked.

Kari took a deep breath. "Amy, the Angels have gone. They're running away from us, and… towards something else."

"Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that." Marco called over his communicator.

"What are you all looking at? What's there?" Amy asked.

"It's like, I don't know. A curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird. Sick." Marco told her. Kari took hold of Amy's hand, ready for what was to come next.

"And you think it scared the Angels?" Amy asked. Kari wanted to just tell her exactly what it was. And to make sure that none of the other clerics went any where near it.

"What could scare those thing?" Pedro asked.

Amy stood up, taking Kari with her. "What are you doing?" Marco asked.

"Point me at the light." Amy ordered.

Marco protested but both Kari and Amy argued against him. Kari positioned Amy so that she was facing the right way. "Amy, you have to be very quick. Do you understand me?" Amy nodded at her. "Okay, when you're ready."

Amy's eyes opened and instantly widened in horror. "It's the same shape. Its' the crack in my wall. It's following me. How can it be following me?" Amy said before falling to her knees. Kari quickly put her hand over Amy's eyes, forcing her to close them.

"Amy, you okay?" Kari asked in concern.

"Yeah. It was the same shape."

"I know it was, Amy. We will work this out, yeah?"

"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" Pedro asked.

Marco nodded at him. "Go for it. Don't get too close."

"Hang on. What about the other two? Why not just wait until they're back?" Amy asked. Kari decided it was better for her to just stay quiet now. She let Amy and Marco go through their conversation of who Crispin and Phillip were. And then he forgot about Pedro as well.

"Something's happening. Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him." Amy told him, her frustration growing.

"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the three of us here." Marco insisted. "Listen, I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."

Kari wasn't going to let him go, she wasn't going to let this happen to someone else. "Don't you dare go anywhere near that crack. If you do, then you will not be coming back and no one will ever remember you. Do not do it." Amy heard the seriousness in Kari's voice.

"Listen to her, you can't go anywhere near that thing." Amy understood that Kari knew what would happen to him if he left them.

"Here, spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time." Marco pulled out a communicator and gave it to Amy. Kari just sat there, staring into the distance. Her mind was actually wandering, thinking about the Doctor who came to visit, the one who seemed so much sadder than he should have been.

"You won't, because if you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you." Amy warned him.

Marco let out a sigh. "There weren't any others."

Amy kept on warning him, begging him not to go, but it seemed that Marco's mind was made up and he was going to go. "There won't be any you if you go back there."

"Two minutes. I promise."

"I am telling you not to go, Marco. I have sat by and seen too many people die already today. You are not going." Kari said firmly, standing in front of the man. He seemed to be a little taken back by her attitude but he kept his composure.

He pushed past Kari and started heading through the forest and towards the light. She sat back down and put her head in her hands, she had tried to stop him, she had tried to save someone, but it had been useless.

After a few minutes Amy started to get a little worried. "Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?"

"_I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now._"

"Then come back. Come back now, please." Amy begged him. Kari knew that the man wasn't going to listen, she knew he was going to be taken.

"_It's weird looking at it. It feels really…_" The only noise coming from the communicator was static.

"Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello?" Amy called.

Kari knew not to panic, she knew they would get out of there alive. Or at least, she knew Amy would.

"_Amy? Amy? Is that you?_" The Doctor called through the communicator.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, not sure if it was really him or if she was imagining it.

"_Where are you? Are the clerics with you? And what about Kari?_"

"They've gone. The clerics have gone. There was this light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other." Amy told him, not mentioning that Kari was there and safe.

"_No, they wouldn't. Where's Kari?_"

Kari gently tugged the device out of Amy's hand, not that she tried to keep hold of it. "I'm right here. Ready and waiting for our trek through the forest and to the primary flight deck."

"_Kari, you're okay._" She heard the Doctor let out a sigh of relief. "_Right, turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound._"

Kari took hold of Amy's arm and pulled her up. Once they were both standing Kari and Amy gripped each other's hand tightly.

"_You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it._"

"Yeah, I know." Kari said to the Doctor before starting to walk with Amy.

"But the Angels, they're everywhere." Amy protested.

"Yup, and I can see them. So you're lucky you've got me. I mean, the Angels can only kill us, that's better than being erased from time really isn't it?" Kari told her, trying to keep her focused on walking.

"What does the Time Energy do?" Amy asked. Kari hesitated. "Tell me."

"Amy, if the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all." Kari felt Amy's grip on her hand tighten. "But that's not going to happen because we are getting the hell out of here, right?"

"Yeah, right." Amy didn't sound as enthusiastic as Kari.

Kari stopped, making Amy stop with her. "Okay, Amy. We're going to need to go one behind the other here. We're surrounded by Angels. I want you to go first, I will be right behind you, guiding you through them. Okay?"

Amy nodded at her. Kari pushed her forward slowly, making sure to keep her eyes trained on all the statues at the same time. She didn't blink, she only winked. "Okay Amy, doing really well." Kari said. She was so focused on guiding Amy through that she forgot what happened.

Amy let out a little cry as she fell to the floor. Kari went down with her, and landed half on her in a heap. Kari quickly scrambled around to look at the Angels, a hand was just inches away from her leg. "Oh, this is so not good. This is very, very far from being good." Kari mumbled. "You okay Amy?"

Amy didn't answer her. "Amy?" Kari called again. She felt around where Amy had just been but all she could feel was the ground. She slowly pulled her leg away from the Angel that was reaching out for her and managed to pull herself off the dirty ground.

"Has River got that teleport working yet?" Kari called down the communicator.

"_Yes. We have Amy. Just hold on a minute and we will get you._"

"Yeah, sorry, Doctor. Think a minute is going to be a little bit late. I'm surrounded, and I can hear them coming up behind me." Kari rummaged through the pocket of her dirt and dust covered shorts and pulled out a pocket mirror. She opened it and used it to look behind her. "Yup, all around me." She confirmed.

"_Kari, just stay calm. I promise I will get you out of there._" There was panic in the Doctor's voice, Kari noticed.

"Hey, I am calm. Sounds like you're the one who needs to stay calm." Kari told him. Inside she was completely terrified, but she didn't want the Doctor to know that.

"_Kari, how close are they? Is there any way you can get past them?_"

"Several a few feet in front of me, a couple behind. They've made a circle around me, there's nowhere to run." Kari told him, Holding the mirror up so that she could look at that whilst still keeping the Angels in front of her locked.

"_How are you stopping them? Why haven't the ones behind gotten you yet?_" The Doctor asked her curiously.

"Clever little trick really. Very simple. Been using it for years, ever since I first found out about the Weeping Angels. I'm holding a mirror." She told him, feeling just a little proud of herself.

"_Oh, that is brilliant. They can't sneak up behind you because you can see them in the mirror. Oh Kari, you really are brilliant._"

"Yeah, being brilliant is great and all that, but I'm still stuck." Kari was suddenly blinded by a bright flash of light. She blinked several times, trying to get rid of the spot that were in front of her eyes. Eventually, her eyes swam into focus and she saw the Doctor standing in front of her, grinning away.

"Welcome to the primary flight deck." The Doctor said before hugging Kari tightly.

Once he let her go, Kari turned to River. "You cut it a bit fine there Doctor Song, but I could still bloody kiss you."

River laughed and hugged Kari. "I don't think he'd appreciate that." She whispered to her, nodding towards the Doctor.

Kari grinned. "Offers always there." Kari said, giving her a wink. She went and stood with the Doctor, and he was still smiling away. "You ready for this, Doctor?"

He looked at her and nodded. Then an alarm started blaring.

"What's that?" River asked, looking around.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release." Kari said, just before the wall in front of them started sliding upwards.

"Angel Bob, I presume." The Doctor said to the Angel who was holding a communicator.

"_The time field is coming. It will destroy our reality._"

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?" The Doctor asked, wrapping an arm around Kari's waist as she stood next to him. She rested her head against him, not realising what she was doing or noticing the grin she was getting from River.

"_There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved._"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" The Doctor asked him.

"_Your friends will also be saved._"

"Well, there is that." He replied after a slight pause to think.

River quickly walked over to the pair. "I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space-time event too. Throw me in."

"Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip." The Doctor told her, moving his arm from around Kari's waist. Kari decided that she was going to grip onto the Doctor's arm, now that he had moved it. He rolled his eyes at her. "Not a grip on me."

Kari pouted at him, giving him the saddest look she could manage. It only made the Doctor laugh at her.

"Doctor, I can't let you do this." River said in protest.

"No, seriously, get a grip." He told her, unhooking Kari's hands from his arm and placing them on a railing. She was still pouting and giving him a sad look.

"You're not going to die here!" River shouted, still not understanding what the Doctor was saying.

Kari sighed. "Seriously, River, Amy, get a grip." Kari told them, nodding down at her own hands gripping onto the railing.

River finally caught on. "Oh, you genius." She said before getting Amy to hold on tight to something and then grabbing on herself.

"_Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now._"

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or, to put it another way, Angels. Night, night."

The Doctor span around and grabbed onto the railing next to Kari, both of them grinning away madly. They were all hanging on for their lives, while the power failed and the Angels were sucked into the crack.

It took them some time to climb out of the ship. It wasn't easy, and it was far form fun, but the Doctor and Kari seemed to be laughing through most of it.

"Ah, bruised everywhere." Amy whined. She was sitting on a rock, out on the beach where they had arrived with a blanket around her.

"So are we." Kari told her, the Doctor inspecting her for any serious damage.

"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut." Amy retorted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Neither did you. I kept saying. The Angels all fell into the Time Field. The Angel in your memory never existed. It can't harm you now."

"Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other." Amy asked curiously.

"You're a time traveller now, Amy. It changes the way you see the universe, forever." Kari told her as the Doctor finally decided that she was fine.

"Good, isn't it?" the Doctor added with a grin.

"And the crack, is that gone too?" Amy asked. Kari and the Doctor looked at each other. Kari knew more about the crack than the Doctor did, but she knew she couldn't tell him anything about it.

"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening. Somewhere out there, somewhere in time." The Doctor said before looking at the sky and seemingly drifting off into his own little world.

Kari tugged as his arm and forced him to go over to River.

"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?" River asked, looking first at Kari then at the Doctor. Kari just gave River a wink, which River had to refrain from laughing at.

"What now?" The Doctor asked her, not noticing the silent communication between the two women.

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see." River told him.

"Octavian said you killed a man, and a woman." Kari flinched. What did he mean 'and a woman'? That wasn't right, that wasn't what happened.

"Yes, I did." River told him, noticing the change in Kari.

"A good man, and a great woman." The Doctor said, repeating the words he had heard from Father Octavian.

"A very good man. The best man I've ever known. And such a great woman, a woman no one could compare to." River gave Kari a concerned look. Kari just stared back with wide eyes.

"Who?" The Doctor asked.

"It's a long story, Doctor. It can't be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica. Ha! That's a fairy tale." The Doctor told her, not believing what River was telling him. It was clear that he still didn't trust the woman, and Kari really could understand why.

"Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there."

Kari turned and noticed Amy was now standing beside her, still wrapped up in the blanket. "Bye, River." Amy said softly.

"See you, Amy." River said before looking at Kari. "Behave, Kari. Don't make me come and track you down. Keep in touch." Kari nodded at her, forcing a smile on her face just as River's handcuffs started beeping. "Oh, I think that's my ride."

"Can I trust you, River Song?" The Doctor asked.

"If you like. But where's the fun in that?" River told him before disappearing in a cyclone of sand and dust.

"Right, I'm bloody starving and completely exhausted." Kari announced. "And I do believe Amy has something she wants to show you, Doctor. So, let's get going shall we." She started off towards the TARDIS.

She was ahead of the Doctor and Amy, and since this Doctor didn't like handing out keys to his beloved ship, she had to wait. Only she didn't, she placed her hand on the door and it clicked open, just as it had done before.

Kari stepped inside, and was suddenly taken over by pain. "No, please. Not now. Please." She cried, feeling her head start to throb. She dropped to her knees by the console.

She didn't even notice the Doctor and Amy come into the TARDIS. "Kari, you got a headache?" The Doctor asked her, crouching down on the floor beside her. She nodded at him as best she could. "Oh, Kari. I'm sorry."

Kari looked up at him, her face already wet from the silent tears. "Why can't I just stay for a few more hours?" Her voice was so quiet that the Doctor could hardly hear her.

"I know, I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you soon, I promise." He said backing away as her skin started to glow.

Kari pulled her head up and looked the Doctor in the eyes ones last time before being completely taken over by the golden light.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Anyone confused? **

**I'm going to live this note very short. So, review Let me know what you thought, or if there is an episode you really want me to do. **

**Pippa.**


	7. The Runaway Bride Pt1

**Disclaimer: I own a sonic screwdriver, but not Doctor Who. **

**A/N: Sorry it has taken so long to update. I've not been too well and have been having issues with my computer. Should be sorted soon. Please forgive me. **

* * *

Kari felt the pain in her head fading fast so she slowly opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They weren't glowing, wherever she had been wanted, she was there.

"Who the hell is Nerys?" She heard a man's voice say.

"Oh, my God! Are you okay?" A woman asked Kari as she helped her up. "Come here, come stay with me."

Kari looked around and grinned a little when she saw the Doctor standing on the other side of the console, a very confused look on his face. She turned her head to the woman who was holding onto her tightly. A very lippy ginger woman, in a wedding dress.

"Sorry, not interrupting anything am I?" Kari asked, looking from the woman and over to the Doctor. When her eyes were set on the Doctor she gave him a wink, she wanted to have a little fun here. "Is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?"

"Hold on, wait a minute. What are you dress like that for?" The Doctor asked, looking at the ginger, completely ignore Kari's question.

"I'm going ten pin bowling. What do you think, dumbo?" Kari couldn't help but laugh a little at the comment. "I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away, and then you… I don't know, you drugged me or something. And you done the same to this poor kid here as well." Kari frowned, she was not a kid and certainly did not look like one.

"I haven't done anything." The Doctor protested. Kari tried to pull away from the woman but was just pulled back, the grip on her tightening.

"I'm having the police on you! Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we're going to sue the living backside off you!" She turned and saw the door down the bottom of the ramp and headed towards it, taking Kari with her.

"No, wait a minute. Wait a minute, don't!" Kari cried, trying to pull the woman back. She was really rather strong and Kari couldn't get the woman to stop.

She pulled the doors open and stood there in awe. "You're in space. Outer space. This is my… space ship. It's called the TARDIS." The Doctor said, coming up behind them. He kissed the top of Kari's head while the woman was distracted.

"How are we breathing?" She asked, staring at the amazing view before her.

"The TARDIS is protecting us." The Doctor told her, keeping his eyes on Kari.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, turning to face the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor. You?"

"Donna."

"Human?" He asked, looking Donna up and down. Kari just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Is that optional?" Donna asked, seemingly forgetting that Kari was there.

"Well, it is for us." The Doctor said, earning a whack from Kari.

"Oi, we don't know that." Kari said before quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

Donna turned to her, she didn't look very impressed. "You know him?"

Kari moved her hand and rested her head against the Doctor who was standing directly behind her. "Unfortunately, yeah, I do." The Doctor swiftly swatted her head, causing Kari to elbow him in the stomach. "I'm Kari, by the way."

"You're both aliens?"

"Yeah." Kari and the Doctor said at the same time.

"It's freezing with these doors open." Donna said. Kari immediately closed them while the Doctor ran to the console.

"I don't understand it and I understand everything. This… this can't happen. There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside." The Doctor rambled.

Kari let out a sigh. "I get dragged through time and space and he just runs around. No 'hello', no hug, nothing." She mumbled.

Clearly the Doctor had actually heard her because he stopped what he was doing and walked over to Kari. "Hello, you okay?" He asked her as he wrapped his arms around her.

Kari hugged him back and smiled. "Yeah. Bloody starving, still. And I could do with a bath, and some sleep would be nice." She told him, trying to think of the last time she actually slept. From what she could remember, it was back before she met Martha.

"Been busy then?" He asked her as he pulled away a little.

Kari grinned at him. "Always busy when I'm running around with you." The Doctor smiled back at her and gave her a light kiss on the lips, which was a complete shock to her. She knew what had happened and where he had just been. She knew who he had just lost, so why was he giving her little kisses?

He moved away from the stunned Kari and grabbed something from a bag hanging from the console. He turned it on and shone a light in Donna's eyes. "Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection, something in the temporal field. Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the chronon shell. Maybe it's something macrobudding your DNA with the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic…" Kari held in her laughter as Donna slapped the Doctor, shutting him up. "What was that for?" He asked, not realising that he had been rambling.

"Get me to the church!" Donna shouted.

"Right! Fine! I don't want you here anyway! I've got Kari here with me now." He threw Kari a smile and a wink. "Where is this wedding?"

"Saint Mary's, Haven Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the solar system." Donna told him as he charged around the console. Kari watched as Donna walked around the console. She froze when she saw what Donna had spotted as well.

"I knew it, acting all innocent. I'm not the first, am I?" Donna spat, picking up a purple jacket from the railings and charging over to the Doctor. "How many woman have you abducted?"

"That's our friend's." The Doctor told her. Kari stepped up to the Doctor and took a hold of his hand.

"Where is she, then? Popped out for a space walk?" Donna asked, in a very unpleasant tone.

"She's gone." Kari told her, giving the Doctor's hand a squeeze.

"Gone where?"

"We lost her." The Doctor told her sadly.

"Well you can hurry up and lose me." Donna snapped. The Doctor got back to working on the console while Kari continued to stand by him. "How do you mean, lost?"

The Doctor slowly walked over to Donna, anger and pain evident on his face. He snatched the jacket from Donna and passed it to Kari. "Right, Chiswick." The Doctor exclaimed, getting back to work on the console.

"Sorry about him Donna. He's just lost someone very special to him. He needs time." Kari said softly to her. "How are you doing?"

"How do you think?" Donna snapped. "Sorry."

Kari smiled at her. "No need to apologise. You're the poor bride who is missing her wedding." Donna finally managed to give the woman a smiled before the TARDIS landed with a thud. "Come on then." Kari said, charging to the door with Donna.

Kari pulled the door open and let Donna rush out first. "I said, Saint Mary's. What sort of Martian's are you? Where's this?" Donna asked, looking around.

Kari and the Doctor were quickly out behind her. "Something's wrong with her. It's like she's… recalibrating." The Doctor cried, running back inside and taking Kari with him. "She's digesting. What is it? What have you eaten? What's wrong?" He asked his ship.

"Donna, you've really got to think. Is there anything that might have caused this? Anything you might have done? Any sort of alien contact? We can't let you go wandering off. What if you're dangerous?"

Kari shook her head. "Shut up, Doctor." The Doctor looked up at Kari. "She's about to freak out, and you are not helping. She's missing her wedding, the biggest day of her life. Times like this you just prove that you're not human. Plus, you're rubbish at weddings." She told him, walking out of the TARDIS to go and find Donna.

The Doctor was quick to follow her out. "So, have you gotten married since I last asked you?" He asked as he caught up to her at the doors.

Kari stopped, making the Doctor walk right into her. "Asked me what, exactly?" She frowned at him and watched him carefully.

"Oh, erm. Nothing." He answered her nervously.

Kari folded her arms across her chest. "No, not nothing. Truth, now." She demanded.

"I was only asking if you had gotten married since the last time I asked you if you were married. That's all." He was still nervous, and Kari could see it clearly.

"I'm sorry, but why would me being married be any of your business?" She asked him sternly. She was forgetting about the situation with the poor bride outside, she was intent on getting some answers out of the Doctor.

The Doctor hesitated under her stare. "Well, I never received an invitation if you have gotten married."

Kari bit her lip, there was something on the tip of her tongue, something she wanted to say to him, but she didn't think it would be a good time. He had just lost Rose, now was not a good time to flirt with him or make jokes like the one she was thinking.

Unfortunately for her, the Doctor had noticed. "Oh, look who's keeping secrets now. Come on, out with it."

Kari took a deep breath and decided to just let it out. He asked for her to tell him. "Maybe you were one of the two people who didn't need an invitation." She said before quickly darting out of the blue box.

The Doctor stood there in shock, just as Kari had expected. But since she had ran out so quickly, she didn't see the grin take over his face.

"Donna, you alright?" Kari asked as she caught up to the woman who was now walking down the street and away from the TARDIS.

"Leave me alone. I just want to get married." Donna said, picking up the pace of her walking.

"Doesn't every woman." Kari mumbled. Since she was a kid she had always dreamed of getting married. But now, since her life was with the Doctor, she knew that was never going to happen.

"Come back to the TARDIS." The Doctor said as he finally managed to catch up. He instantly slipped his hand into Kari's, making her jump a little as she hadn't realised that he was now there.

"No way. That box is too weird." Donna said, hitching up her white wedding dress so she could walk better.

"It's bigger on the inside, that's all." The Doctor told her earning a slight glare from Kari.

"Oh, that's all." Donna looked down at her watch. "Ten past three. I'm gonna miss it."

"You can phone them. Tell them where you are." The Doctor suggested.

"And how can she do that?" Kari asked, knowing full well why Donna couldn't call anyone.

"Haven't you got a mobile?" He asked, looking straight at Donna.

"I'm in my wedding dress, it doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at Chez Alison, the one thing I forgot to say was, 'give me pockets'." Kari had to hold in her laughter. The Doctor was now feeling very awkward, and Kari loved it.

"This man you're marrying. What's his name?" The Doctor asked.

"Lance." Donna said dreamily.

"Good luck, Lance." Kari smacked the Doctor around the back of the head.

"Oi!" Donna yelled in protest. "No stupid Martian is going to stop me from getting married. To hell with you." She shouted before running off on her own.

"I'm… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not from Mars." The Doctor moaned before he pulled Kari along, running after Donna.

"I like the way she's blaming everything on you. I didn't get called a Martian, which I'm rather surprised at really." Kari told him as the spotted Donna trying to stop one of the many black cabs in London.

It seemed that none of the cabs wanted to stop. Even though they had no fares, the trio were left standing there.

"Do you have this effect on everyone?" The Doctor asked Donna. "Why aren't they stopping?"

"They think I'm in fancy dress." Kari giggled a little at Donna's comment.

"Stay off the sauce, darling." A cab driver called as he passed.

"They think I'm drunk."

"You're not fooling no one, mate!" Was shouted from another car as it went past.

"They think I'm in drag." Donna moaned.

Kari rolled her eyes. "Can I try?" She said, taking a step closer to the curb. She put her fingers in her mouth and let out the most ear piercing, shrilling whistle that the Doctor and Donna had ever heard. Suddenly there were several taxi's stopped and waiting for them. "Brides first." Kari said, opening the door to the nearest one for Donna.

They all piled into the cab. "Saint Mary's in Chiswick. Just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency. I'm getting married. Just hurry up!" Donna said, panicking.

The driver looked at us in his mirror. "You know it'll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today."

"Oh, my God. Have you got any money?" Donna asked.

"Er, no. Haven't you?" The Doctor asked her. He never bothered to carry money around with him, he never really needed it.

"Pockets!" Kari and Donna shouted at him at the same time. Kari also whacked him around the back of the head again for being such an idiot.

The driver was quick to stop the car and tell them to get out. "And that goes double for your mother!" Donna shouted as she slammed the door closed. "I'll have him. I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas spirit."

"Is it Christmas?" The Doctor asked, perking up a little. Kari noticed a sudden glint in his eyes.

"No, it's bloody Easter. You finally made it to Easter." Kari joked. She knew that every time he tried to find Easter, he couldn't. So it was only natural for her to tease him about it.

Donna grinned at Kari. "Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve." Donna told him. "Phone box! We can reverse the charges." She exclaimed before rushing over to the phone box.

"How come you're getting married on Christmas Eve?" The Doctor asked her.

"Can't bear it, I hate Christmas. Honeymoon, Morocco. Sunshine, lovely." Donna said as they finally reached the phone box. "What's the operator? I've not done this in years. What do you dial? 100?"

Kari grabbed the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's pocket and aimed it at the phone. "Just call direct." Kari told her, passing it back to the Doctor. He couldn't help but grin at her as he put it back in his pocket.

"What did you do?"

"Something… Martian. Now phone." Kari said before turning to the Doctor. "You, go and get some money. And be careful." She warned him, giving him a serious look.

"Oh, answer the phone!" Donna moaned as it kept on ringing.

"Calm down, Donna. Everything will be fine." Kari said, placing a reassuring hand on the ginger woman's arm.

"How can you say that? I'm missing my own wedding!" Donna was in a very foul mood, and Kari knew it was only going to get worse.

"Trust me, Donna. I know how bad things seem right now, but everything will get better."

"Mum, get off the phone and listen, I'm in… Oh, my God, I don't know where I am, it's a street. And there's WHSMith. But it's definitely Earth." Kari couldn't help but slap her hand against her head as Donna said that.

She took this chance to look over at the Doctor who was hopping around in the line for the cash machine. A grin crept across her face when she saw him pulling out his screwdriver and using it on the machine to get out some money.

Kari's eyes widened when she saw the Santa's playing Christmas carols slowly approaching the Doctor. "Doctor!" She shouted, getting his attention. "Santa's behind you!"

"Taxi!" Donna yelled, causing Kari to spin around. She needed to decide who she was going to help. The Doctor, or Donna. She shook her head and start running towards Donna.

"Donna, wait!" Kari called, moving as fast as she could. She was curious as to why she hadn't passed out from exhaustion yet.

"Thanks for nothing, spaceman. I'll see you in court!" Donna yelled, getting into the cab, leaving the door open for Kari.

Kari jumped in the back with Donna and closed the door, taking a few deep breaths. "I want to make sure you get there safely, Donna. The Doctor is an idiot."

Donna smiled at her weakly before turning to the driver. "I promise you, mate, I'll give you the rest when we get there." She sat back let out a sigh. "Oh, I look a mess."

"No you don't, you look wonderful, Donna." Kari told her, helping her take her veil off. "A beautiful bride."

"Thanks." Donna said, giving her a smile. "So, you married then?"

Kari rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. And I never will be getting married." Why were people so interested in finding out if she was married or not?

"Why not? What about that spaceman? Are you and him…" Donna asked curiously.

"Oh, no. No way. I mean, that's just…" Kari could actually feel her cheeks burning a little. "My life is complicated. That spaceman is the only thing that is a guarantee in my life."

Donna looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Like I said, complicated. Tell you what, once you're safely at your wedding I will tell you as best I can. Deal?" Donna nodded at her, accepting her offer. "Good. Now, where is he?" Kari looked out the back window of the cab, looking hard for something.

"Hold on a minute. I said Chiswick. You've missed the turning. Excuse me, we should've turned off back there. We're going the wrong way!"

"I don't think he's listening, Donna." Kari told her, still watching out the window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Donna demanded to know. "I'm late for the wedding. My own wedding. Do you get that?"

"Come on, Doctor. Where are you?" Kari mumbled, starting to feel a little uneasy with the situation she decided to get herself into.

"Turn around! Turn this cab around right now!" Donna yelled. "Are you deaf or what?" She asked before reaching over and pulling the red hood down that the driver was wearing. The Santa mask fell off and Donna gasped as she saw that it was a robot driving the cab. "Oh, my God."

"Okay, Donna. You need to stay calm. I'm going to get you out of this, I promise, but you need to stay calm." Kari told her, letting her eyes roam over the sky. Donna didn't listen. She kept banging on the windows, crying out for help. Kari let out a sigh. "I could really do with getting myself a sonic screwdriver. I wonder if the Doctor ever lets me have one?" Kari mumbled.

"About bloody time." Kari said as she spotted a blue box, bouncing around behind them.

"You are kidding me." Donna cried as she looked and saw it as well.

"Oh, come on, Donna. He's come to rescue you, show a little bit of gratitude." Kari said, making her way over to the door where the Doctor flew the TARDIS beside.

"Open the door." The Doctor shouted.

"It's bloody locked. Unlock it and maybe I will." Kari called back to him. He rolled his eyes before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his sonic.

Donna pulled the window down so that it was open. "Santa's a robot." She told the Doctor.

"Donna, open the door." The Doctor told her, holding onto the edge of the TARDIS as best he could.

"What for?"

"You've got to jump." Kari told her, sitting on the floor of the cab.

"I'm not blinking flip jumping! I'm supposed to be getting married." Donna cried. The car started picking up speed, leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS behind. Kari stayed sitting on the floor, waiting for the Doctor to catch up to them, like she knew he would.

The Doctor used his sonic on the robot, it sparked and its hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Listen to me. You've got to jump." The Doctor called when he was close enough again.

"I'm not jumping on the motorway." Donna protested.

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it's not good. Now come on!"

"I'm in my wedding dress!" Donna shouted. Kari wanted to just open the door and push the woman out. She actually thought that it wasn't a bad idea.

"Yes, you look lovely. Come on." Kari said, opening the door and pushing Donna forwards a bit more as the Doctor reached out for her.

"I can't do it."

The Doctor looked at Donna, his face soft yet serious. "Trust me."

"Is that what you said to her? You friend? The one you both lost? Did she trust you?"

"Yes, she did. And she is not dead. She is so alive. Now jump!" The Doctor's words seem to get through to her and Donna made a leap and landed on the Doctor and in the TARDIS. "Quickly, get off, I need to get Kari." Donna pulled herself off the Doctor and he stood at the open doors, his arms out, waiting for Kari.

"You know, I think I'm okay in here." Kari said, looking at the speed the ground was passing her by at. "He has to run out of fuel at some point, right?"

"Kari, don't do this. Come on, Donna made it, so can you." The Doctor said, worry flooding across his face.

"Yeah, I don't think I can." She said, backing away from the door a little.

"Kari, please. You have to jump. I am not leaving you."

She let out a sigh. "Another thing to add to my 'never do again' list." She mumbled, taking another step back. "Oh, I am so going to regret this…" She charged forward and jumped, knocking the Doctor off his feet.

"You can open your eyes now." He whispered to her, holding onto her tightly. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on top of the Doctor, her hands clenched to the lapels of his suit jacket. "Kari, you alright?" She nodded at him, she was fine, apart from the little world her thoughts were drifting off to.

Kari couldn't help but think over what had happened to her recently. Found out she wasn't human, that the Doctor was real and she always shows up in his life. She wondered if that was why he was so comfortable with her since losing Rose. If she was like his best friend, then those small little things wouldn't really matter. Would they?

"Kari? Kari?" She shook her head and looked at the Doctor. "What's wrong?" The Doctor asked her, bringing her back to the current drama.

"Nothing. I was thinking. I am allowed to think you know. You're not the only one with a brain." She told him, lightly whacking his chest and pushing herself to her knees.

"You sure that you're alright?" The Doctor asked her, still concerned.

"I am fine. I think we should worry about the exploding console at the moment." Kari pointed towards the sparks and smoke rising from the console. The Doctor was quick to get on his feet and move over to the console. Kari darted after him and helped him to safely land the TARDIS.

Kari was getting herself changed, finally, while the Doctor was putting out the last of the fire. "The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours." The Doctor said, finished with the fire extinguisher. "Hurry up Kari!" The Doctor yelled.

"I am coming!" She called back, stepping into the smoke filled room, wearing a turquoise dress, which came just down to her knees and matching shoes. She started coughing a little as she passed through it all. "Extractor fans on." Kari called just before stepping out of the TARDIS. "That should help a little."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw her. "Erm, why are you wearing a dress?" He whispered to her.

"Well I can't very well show up at Donna's wedding reception dressed in dirt covered shorts now can I?" She replied, shaking her head. "You alright?" Kari asked Donna as she went and stood next to her.

"It doesn't matter."

"We missed it didn't we, Donna?" Kari asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah."

"Well, you can book another date." The Doctor suggested, taking a hold of Kari's hand and giving her a small smile.

"Of course we can."

"You've still got…" Kari nudged him in the side and gave him a look that told him to shut up.

"Leave her alone, Doctor. She's just missed the most important day in her life. The honeymoon is now just another holiday." Kari looked back at the woman standing on the rooftop with them.

"Wish you had a time machine, then we could go back and get it right." The Doctor and Kari looked at each other, she shook her head and the Doctor gave her a sad smile.

"Yeah, yeah. But even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline. Apparently."

Kari and the Doctor watched at Donna went and sat on the edge of the rooftop, her legs dangling over. Kari let out a sigh while the Doctor unbuttoned his suit jacket and took it off, dropping it over Donna's shoulders as he went and sat next to her. Kari, knowing how the Doctor was going to act, sat on his other side, ready to defend Donna.

"God, you're skinny. That wouldn't fit a rat." Donna moaned, making Kari giggle.

"Oh, and, um, you better put this is." The Doctor said, rummaging through his trouser pockets before pulling out a gold wedding band.

"Oh, do you have to rub it in?" Donna leaned forward a little to look at Kari, wondering how she was feeling about all of this. Kari wasn't even looking at them, she was staring at the view of London.

"Those creatures can trace you. This is a bio-damper, it should keep you hidden." The Doctor told her. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp." He said, slipping the ring onto her finger.

"For better or for worse." Donna joked. "So come on then, robot Santa's, what are they for?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Oh, your basic robo-scavenger.. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met them last Christmas."

Kari let out a little cough, getting the Doctor's attention. "Spoilers." The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her, she was moaning about spoilers, even though she already knew what was going to happen or had happened. There was no easy way for him to tell where they were in her timeline.

"Why, what happened then?" Donna asked curiously.

"Great big spaceship hovering over London, you didn't notice?" The Doctor was slightly taken back by the thought of her not noticing it.

"I had a bit of a hangover."

"We spent Christmas day just over there," he said, pointing over London, "the Powell Estate, with this family. Our friend, she had this family. Well… still, gone now." Kari gave the Doctor's hand a squeeze. She knew it was hard for him.

"Your friend, who was she?"

"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you?" The Doctor asked the ginger woman, avoiding her question. The truth of it was, Kari was quite interested to know as well, since things seemed to be a fair bit different to how she knew them to be.

"And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know. What's your job?" He asked before going through his jacket pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"I'm a secretary." Donna told him before he started scanning his with his screwdriver.

"It's weird. I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important." The Doctor rambled.

"This friend if yours, just before she left, did she punch you in the face?" Donna asked.

Kari whacked him around the head. Giving him a glare. "Feel free to whack him whenever you like, Donna."

"Stop bleeping me." Donna pushed the Doctor's hand away from her as he scanned her face.

"What kind of secretary?"

"HC Clements." Kari said, letting her eyes drift back over the city. "It's where she met Lance."

Donna looked at her with her mouth hanging open. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, sorry. Did I forget to tell you that I'm kind of all knowing?" There was a huge grin on her face now. "But, for his benefit, better tell him the whole story."

Donna nodded at her. "I was temping. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double-glazing firm. Well, I thought, I'm never going to fit in here. And then he made me a cup of coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee."

The Doctor looked over at Kari as Donna spoke, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, that there was something she wasn't telling him.

"And Lance, he's head of HR. He don't need to bother with me. But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him. One cup of coffee. That was it."

The Doctor shook his head. "When was this?"

"Six months ago." Kari and Donna answered at the same time.

"Bit quick to get married." The Doctor thought.

"Well, he insisted." Kari rolled her eyes at Donna, she knew it had been the other way around. "And he nagged, and he nagged. And he just wore me down. And then finally, I just gave in."

"What does HC Clements do?" The Doctor asked, trying to distract himself from focusing on Kari.

"Oh, security systems. You know, entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmiths." Donna told him, not noticing the way he kept looking over at Kari.

"Basically, keys." Kari told the pair.

"Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is going to be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian boy." Donna said.

"Yeah, I'm not from Mars." The Doctor insisted as he got up from the edge before helping Kari up.

"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken." Donna told the pair as the Doctor helped her up and took his jacket back.

"How comes I'm Martian and Kari, well, isn't?" The Doctor asked, playing with Kari's hand in his.

"Because I like her better." Donna said, making Kari break out in a fit of giggles. The expression on the Doctor's face was priceless. "She makes more sense than you do as well. She doesn't seem so… Martian."

Kari eventually managed to control her giggles. "Thanks, Donna. I do try not to be a weird as him. Honesty, sometimes it doesn't really take much."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the women. "Right, if you two have finished chatting. Shall we go?"

* * *

**A/N: Again, sorry for the late update. Forgive me, please. I hope it was worth the wait at least. **

**So let me know, review so I can get the next chapter up sooner. To make it up got you all. **

**Pippa.**


	8. The Runaway Bride Pt2

**Disclaimer: I own a lovely selection of sonic screwdriver, but still working on getting Doctor Who. **

**A/N: Thank you to all who have reviewed/Favourtied/Followed. You guys are awesome. Anyway, you've waited long enough, here it is. **

* * *

It was a lot of walking and a few arguments with taxi drivers later when they finally arrived at the wedding reception. Donna's face fell when she not only heard the music, but saw the party in full swing, everyone seemingly have a good time.

When people started to notice her standing there, with her arms folded across her chest, the all stared at her. It didn't take long for the music to stop, leaving the whole room in silence.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna ground out.

"Donna, what happened to you?" A man asked her, not moving away from where he was standing.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna repeated, only a little louder and angrier this time.

There was silence. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and…" Kari elbowed him in the side to shut him up.

Donna turned to face the pair. "They had the reception without me."

"Yes, I gathered." Kari whacked the Doctor again. The Doctor and weddings, never a good thing.

"Well, it was all paid for. Why not?" A blonde woman asked. Kari didn't like the woman, but then she knew who she was to Donna and so had every right not to really like her.

"Thank you, Nerys."

"Oh, is that Nerys?" Kari said, looking the woman up and down. "Yeah, I can see what you mean." Donna gave her a slightly confused look at first, but when Kari winked at her, she smiled.

An older woman with blonde hair started walking towards Donna. "Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end. 'I'm on Earth', very funny. But what the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick, because I'd love to know."

At that point everyone decided to start talking at once. Not just Donna's mother, her fiancé and friends, but everyone else in the room seemed to want to ask about it as well.

Kari nudged the Doctor. "Wait for it…" She whispered. He just sent her a confused look. Not understanding what he was waiting for when suddenly, Donna burst into tears. Kari smiled as Lance went and hugged her, while Donna sent a wink towards her and the Doctor. Everyone began clapping, well, everyone except for Nerys, and the party got back into full swing.

The Doctor and Kari were leaning up against the bar. "I need to do a little research on HC Clements." The Doctor said to Kari, watching a man who had his mobile phone out.

"HC Clements, sole proprietor… Torchwood." Kari told him. She was afraid of his reaction when she said Torchwood, but he seemed to be relatively okay.

"That your all knowing power speaking?" He asked, giving her a huge grin.

"I don't think my all knowing power is actually all knowing. I think it only tells half of the story." Kari told him, watching Donna dancing away with Lance. "You miss Rose, don't you?" She knew that he would be watching everyone dancing, having a good time, and thinking about his good time with Rose.

"Yeah, yeah I do miss her. But I've always got you. Can't get rid of you so easily, can I?" He said, pulling her in for a hug.

"Yeah, but, Doctor, it's Rose. I mean, she is everything to you, so it's okay to get upset."

Kari heard the Doctor mumble something, she wasn't sure she even understood half of it but what she could work out was 'too early in your timeline'. After that, he sort of shut down and went into his own little world, until Kari decided it was time for him to see the videotape.

"Come on, Martian. Let's go and see what happened in that church." Kari said, tugging at his arm and over to the cameraman.

"Do you have to call me Martian as well? You know I'm not from Mars." He moaned as he was dragged across the room.

"Would you prefer Mr Grumpy Face?" Kari asked, stopping in her tracks and turning to face the Doctor.

"Funny enough, no, I wouldn't. Why do you have to give me these silly names in the first place?"

"Because I'm getting annoyed and fed up. And you're easier to insult and because I know you won't get angry at me for doing it." Kari said, a frown forming on her face.

"Kari, why are you getting annoyed and fed up?" The Doctor asked her gently. He had a feeling something wasn't right, but he had no idea how to approach her about it.

"Because nothing makes sense. I know how things are meant to be but they're not and it doesn't make sense. And now I'm wondering if it's all my fault." This time it was the Doctor's turn to frown.

"Why would you think that?"

"You're just… not acting the way I thought you would after losing Rose. I mean, it's Rose, trapped in a parallel world with her mother and Mickey. I just doesn't seem right to me." Kari told him, playing with her hands nervously.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Listen to me, it's too early in your timeline to understand everything that's happened. It is possible that there are slight changes from what you have seen, but I promise you, it's nothing to worry about."

Kari wasn't sure if she should believe him or not, but he was the Doctor after all. If there was anything she had learnt from her time of watching Doctor Who, it was to trust the Doctor. "Right, fine. Now come on, you really need to see the video." Kari said, pulling out of his arms and over to the cameraman.

"Come on then, show us the action." Kari said, flashing the young cameraman her best smile.

"Oh, I taped the whole thing. They've all had a look. They said sell it to 'You've Been Framed'. I said, more like the news. Here we are then." He said as he found the part where Donna just disappeared down the aisle. She was surrounded by some kind of golden energy.

The Doctor looked at Kari and frowned before turning to the cameraman. "Can't be. Play it again?"

"Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping." He said as he rewound it back again.

"But that looks like Huon Particles." The Doctor said, looking closely at the small screen on the camera, his glasses firmly on.

"What's that then?"

"That's impossible. That's ancient. Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years." The Doctor was thinking, and Kari decided she was going to help him, he would have worked it out himself but she knew how much danger everyone was in.

"So old that it can't be hidden by a bio-damper." Kari told him, her eyes trained on Donna. The Doctor quickly ran out of the room, leaving Kari to deal with Donna.

She rushed over to her where she was dancing with Lance. "Donna! Donna, they've found you." Kari said in a panic.

"But he said I was safe." Donna didn't realise how bad things were, yet.

"Yeah, well he's an idiot. The bio-damper doesn't work. It's complicated and very Martian. We've got to get everyone out. And fast." Kari told her, knowing what was going to happen next.

Donna looked around the room. "Oh, my God, it's all my family."

The Doctor came rushing back in. "Out the back door." He shouted, grabbing Kari's hand as he passed.

"Yeah, maybe not." Kari said, spotting the robot Santa's outside and waiting for them. The Doctor dragged her with him over to a large window, where more of the robots were waiting outside.

"We're trapped." Donna cried, joining them at the window.

"Christmas trees." Kari reminded the Doctor with wide eyes.

"What about them?" Donna asked, completely lost to their conversation.

"They kill." The Doctor shouted, before running with Kari over towards the large tree in the room. "Get away from the tree!"

"Do not touch the trees, everyone get away from the trees, now!" Kari yelled, shooing the younger children away and towards their parents.

"Get away from the Christmas trees! Everyone get away from them. Stay away from the trees." The Doctor carried on yelling, pushing people away.

"Oh, for God's sake, the man's an idiot. Why? What harm's a Christmas tree going to… oh…" Donna's mother stood in awe watching the baubles float off the tree and zoom across the room.

"Keep away from those things as well!" Kari yelled, noticing how everyone was looking at them.

Then they started exploding, and chaos erupted. People started running around, screaming and panicking. Kari noticed Donna hide under one of the tables and saw her hand grab Lance and pull him down as well. The Doctor had thrown himself over Kari as an explosion knocked them both off their feet.

"Doctor, get your screwdriver." Kari ordered, getting to her feet and dragging him over to the where all the DJ equipment was. "Well, come on then. Or do I have to do it myself?" She asked, looking at the line of Santa's slowly getting closer to them.

"Oi! Santa! Word of advice. If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver, don't let him near the sound system." The Doctor told them down the microphone before plugging his sonic screwdriver into part of the system. It resulted in such a noise that everyone had to cover their ears. The robots fell to the floor, no longer working.

The Doctor and Kari quickly skidded across the floor to the Santa's. "Look at that." Kari said, chucking the Doctor something the looked like a games console controller.

"Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robot's. They're not scavengers any more. I think someone's taken possession." The Doctor said, tossing one of the head of a robot to Kari.

"Never mind all that, you're a doctor, people have been hurt." Donna said, worried for her friends and family.

"Nah, they wanted you alive. Look…" He tossed one of the decorations from the tree at Donna. "They're not active now."

"All the same, you could help."

"Got to think of the bigger picture. There's still a signal." The Doctor cried, jumping to his feet.

"Donna, who is he? Who is that man?" Her mother asked. It was clear that she had a dislike for the Doctor. Donna didn't answer her mother, she ran towards Kari who had been waiting for her so that they could both chase after the Doctor together.

"There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms." The Doctor told them as they finally joined him outside.

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked. Kari wanted to jus tell her that she was brilliant, that she was the super temp, but she knew she couldn't.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out." Kari said, watching the Doctor point his sonic screwdriver towards the sky.

"Ooh, it's up there. Something in the sky."

Kari shook her head and turned to Donna. "He's going to lose the signal. We need to get to your office at HC Clements. That's going to be where it all started." She paused when she saw Lance standing behind Donna. "Ah, Lance, do you mind giving us a lift?" He nodded at her.

"I've lost the signal. Donna…" The Doctor turned to face Donna but was met with Kari instead.

"Way ahead of you. Come on, they're waiting in the car." Kari told him, dragging him to the car with her.

They made it to HC Clements in no time at all, and the Doctor was quick to explain to Donna and Lance about Torchwood. Something that bothered the Doctor was the fact that Donna had not seen the Cybermen or the Daleks. She claimed to have been in Spain scuba diving. More and more about the woman was making less sense to the Doctor.

"But what do they want with me?" Donna asked.

"Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem, because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times." The Doctor said, while Kari glared at Lance. Soon enough she could stop pretending to be nice to him. "The only place you'd find Huon particles now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See, that's what happened."

Donna just looked at him blankly. Kari picked up a coffee mug that was sitting on the desk. "Say, this is the TARDIS." She then picked up a pencil. "And that's you." Donna nodded, so far being able to follow what she was saying. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and wap." She threw the pencil into the mug.

"You were pulled inside the TARDIS." The Doctor concluded, grinning away.

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked.

"Yes, you are. 4H, sums you up." The Doctor took the mug from Kari and put it down on the desk again. "Lance, what was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret, special operations, do not enter?"

"You alright, Donna?" Kari asked, leaving the Doctor to his chat with Lance.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Donna said quietly.

"Liar." Kari said, giving the woman a little nudge. "It's okay, Donna. The Doctor will fix this. I promise." Donna just nodded at her and they both went and watched the Doctor working on a computer that he had finally got to work.

"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this." He pointed to a plan of the building he had pulled up on the screen. "We're on the third floor." He grabbed Kari's hand and ran over to the lift.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The lift arrived and he quickly got inside with Kari. "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked lower basement?"

Kari grinned. "There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there?" She said, knowing that they were going to go down there.

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked.

"No, we're showing you this building's got a secret floor." Kari said, pointing at the button.

"It needs a key." Donna pointed out, still standing outside of the lift with Lance.

Kari laughed a little. "He doesn't." She said, as he used his screwdriver on the button.

"Right then, thanks, you two. We can handle this, see you later." The Doctor said, putting his sonic screwdriver away and putting his arm around Kari.

"No chance, Martian. You're the couple who keep saving my life. I ain't letting you out of my sight." Donna said, getting into the lift.

"Going down." The Doctor said, while Kari just rolled her eyes.

"Lance?" Donna wanted him to join them.

"Maybe I should go to the police."

"Inside." Donna ordered. He quickly done as he was told and stepped into the lift as well.

"To honour and obey?" The Doctor said. Earning a whack from Kari, as well as a glare.

"Tell me about it, mate."

"Oi!" Both Donna and Kari called.

As the lift descended, Kari kept glancing at Lance, and not a very nice one at that. The Doctor had noticed but being stuck in the lift, he wasn't able to say anything to her. Soon enough the lift stopped and they all walked out.

"Where are we? What goes on down here?" Donna asked as they stopped further into the corridor that was being lit by green lights.

"Let's find out." Kari said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Do you think Mr Clements knows about this place?" Donna wondered.

"The mysterious HC Clements? Oh, I think he's part of it."

Kari tugged on the Doctor's hand as her eyes stayed glued to something in the corner. "Look, transport." She said gleefully. She pulled the Doctor with her over to the 2 wheeled stand up scooters.

The Doctor quickly got Kari on one, and stood on behind her, his arms reaching around her to the handles. Donna and Lance grabbed the other two. Kari complained about having to share with the Doctor, she had been hoping to get one on her own, but the Doctor told her it was more fun with the pair of them on the same.

As they whizzed along the corridor, Kari began to think that it was better to be on there with the Doctor. For some reason he was keeping very close to her, closer than he really should in her opinion.

He stopped and jumped off when they reached a large metal door, with a Torchwood sign on it. Kari jumped off and followed him, knowing where he was going.

"Wait here, just need to get my bearings. Don't do anything." The Doctor said, pointing at Donna and Lance. "You coming, Kari?"

"No need. We're right under the Thames flood barrier. Torchwood snuck in and build this place underneath." Kari told him, not really fancying the climb up there in a dress.

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna asked in shock.

"Oh, I know, I know, love." The Doctor said, making Kari laugh.

"Wherever next? The London Eye?" She asked sarcastically, making the Doctor laugh as well as they walked into a lab.

"Oh, look at this. Stunning!" The Doctor exclaimed as he approached some of the equipment.

"Very Torchwood, if you ask me." Kari said, looking around some more.

"What does it do?" Donna asked, not understanding why the pair were getting so excited.

"Particle extrusion. They've been manufacturing Huon particles." Kari told her, watching the Doctor bounce around the room.

"Of course, my people got rid of Huons. They unravel the atomic structure." The Doctor told her, keeping his attention on the bubbling pipes of liquid.

"Your people?" Lance questioned. Kari sent him a glare which no one saw. "Who are they? What company do you represent?"

"Oh, he's just a freelancer." Kari answered, knowing how the Doctor was busy.

"But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river. Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result…" Kari picked up a small tube of what looked like water and passed it to the Doctor. "Huon particles in liquid form." The Doctor finished, showing the liquid to Donna.

"And that's what's inside me?" She asked, the slightest hint of worry noticeable in her voice.

Kari leaned over the Doctor and twisted the top on the container. The liquid started glowing, and so did Donna.

"Oh, my God!" Donna exclaimed as she looked at herself, the golden glow around her. "Is that what happened to you as well?" She asked Kari.

Kari shook her head. "Nah, I'm a bit more… complicated than that. And it's not the TARDIS that I'm attracted to." She said, throwing the Doctor a wink, making him blush a little.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Genius. Because the particles are inert, they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then… ha!" The Doctor jumped in the air as it dawned on him. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle. Oh, your body's a battleground. There's a chemical war inside."

Kari shook her head and stepped up behind the Doctor as he carried on rambling on. "Yeah, you're like a walking over. A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away. The particles reach boiling point. Shazam!"

Kari whacked him around the back of the head while Donna slapped him across the face. "What did I do this time?" The Doctor yelled.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna asked, glaring at the Doctor. "Right, just tell me. These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

"Yes." The Doctor lied.

"Doctor, if your lot got rid of Huon particles, why did they do that?" Donna asked, she knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Because they were deadly." Kari said, placing one of her hands on Donna's arm. Donna cried in shock. "We'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, we'll reverse it. We are not about to lose anyone else." Kari told her firmly.

"_Oh, she is long since lost._" An odd female voice called. Kari kept her eyes on the wall which suddenly started sliding up. "_I have waited so long. Hibernating at the edge of the universe. Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken me._"

Kari watched as Lance sneaked away. She knew that the next time she saw him, she didn't have to be nice to him. She looked around and saw several robots with their weapons aimed at them and let out a sigh.

"Someone's been digging" The Doctor commented, stepping closer to the large hole in the ground.

"Very Torchwood, don't you think?" Kari asked, keeping with Donna.

The Doctor nodded at her. "Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"

"_Down and down. All the way to the centre of the Earth._"

"Really?" The Doctor asked, pulling a face which Kari couldn't help but laugh at "Seriously, what for?"

"No, Donna. No dinosaurs." Kari said, holding up a hand to stop the woman from talking.

"_Clever girl. Such knowledge._" Kari couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Only a madman talks to think air. And trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" The Doctor asked, walking around Donna and Kari before finally stopping to Kari and taking hold of her hand.

"_High in the sky. Floating so high on Christmas night._" The voice called.

"We didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom. Come on, let's have a look at you." The Doctor insisted.

"_Who are you with such command?_"

"I'm the Doctor."

"_Prepare your best medicines, doctor man. For you will be sick at heart._"

"Oh, now it get's even more interesting." Kari mumbled, knowing what's going to happen next. The Doctor frowned at her just as a large red spider teleported into the room. Donna and the Doctor both stood there in shock. "Racnoss." Kari said, doing her best to keep a smile on her face.

"But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss." The Doctor was having trouble coming to terms with what was in front of him.

"Empress of the Racnoss." Kari corrected him.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or, are you the only one?" The Doctor asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Such sharp minds." The huge spider told them. Kari wanted to take it as a compliment but she knew she wasn't really that clever. She only seemed clever because of how much she already knew.

"That's it, the last of your kind." The Doctor declared.

"The Racnoss come from the Dark Ties, billions of years ago. Billions. They were carnivores. Omnivores. They devoured whole planets." Kari whispered to Donna, knowing that she didn't fully understand everything yet.

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?" The Empress asked.

"They eat people?" Donna asked, looking at the Doctor who had followed Kari's gaze to the ceiling.

"HC Clements, did he wear those, uh, black and white shoes?" The Doctor asked, tightening his grip on Kari's hand.

"He did. We used to laugh. We used to call him the fat cat in spats." Donna said, smiling at the memory. Kari pointed up to the pair of feet she could see, with those black and white shoes on. "Oh, my God."

"My Christmas dinner." The Empress spat.

"You shouldn't even exist. Way back in history, the Fledging Empires went to war against the Racnoss. They were wiped out." The Doctor called to the Empress. Kari and Donna both noticed Lance on a walkway next to the Empress. Kari glared at him while Donna just looked on at him in shock as he put his finger to his lips to keep them quiet.

"Except for me." The Empress replied.

"But that's what I've got inside me, they Huon energy thing." The Empress hissed. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles? Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me." Donna demanded, seeing Lance with an axe in his hand slowly approaching the Empress of the Racnoss.

"The bride is so feisty."

"Yes, I am. And I don't know what you are, you big thing." Kari couldn't help but grin at Donna. "But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe. Now, do it!" Donna shouted, expecting Lance to attack the Racnoss.

Lance went to swing the axe at the Empress but broke out in a fit of laughter. Kari had to do everything she could to stay calm.

"That was a good one. Your face." Lance called back to Donna once he stopped laughing with the Empress.

"Lance is funny." The Empress agreed.

"What?" Donna asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry." Kari said, putting an arm around the woman.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be stupid! Get her!" Donna shouted.

Lance just glared at Donna. "God, she's thick. Months I've had to…"

"Oh, shut up you idiot. Donna is not thick. The only person who is thick here is you." Kari spat.

Donna looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand."

"How did you meet him? In the office, he made you coffee. Everyday that idiot made you coffee. You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months." Kari told Donna softly. She knew this was going to be hard for her.

"He was poisoning me?"

"It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources." Kari spat. She was glad she didn't have to be nice to Lance anymore.

"This time, it's personnel." Lance said with a laugh.

"But we were getting married."

"Forget him, Donna. He isn't worth it. You can do so much better. He used you, she corrupted him. Just forget him, I promise you, your life is going to be so much better." Kari knew what Donna's future was going to be. Some of it was amazing, some of it really wasn't that great at all. Btu she knew that she needed to reassure the woman.

"Who is this woman and the little physician?" The Empress asked.

"She said, Martian." Lance told her.

"Oh, we're sort of homeless. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's going to help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?" The Doctor asked.

"I think he wants us to talk."

"I think so, too." The Empress agreed.

"Well, tough. All we need is Donna." Lance spat. Kari instantly took a step in front of Donna, glaring at Lance.

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and his woman."

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah right. Come on then." She said, sounding rather bored. "Can I just quickly point something out to you? Won't take a tick." Kari plucked the liquid particles from the Doctor and held the container in her hand. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside his spaceship." She nodded over towards the Doctor. "So, reverse it, and the spaceship comes to her." Kari said, twisting the top and smiling away.

"Oh, that was brilliant! My brilliant Kari." The Doctor said, hugging her as the TARDIS materialised around them. "Right, off we go." The Doctor quickly let go of Kari and started running around the console.

"Oh, do you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're going to use it." The Doctor said, paying no attention to how upset Donna was.

Kari just shook her head and went to sit with the woman. "I'm so sorry, Donna. I really am."

"It's not your fault. You weren't to know." Donna said softly. It was clear that she was upset.

"I did know, Donna. I knew he was working along side the Racnoss. I'm sorry." Kari didn't really know what else to say. "I… sort of know what's going to happen… before it happens."

"Well if you knew, why did you do something to stop him? Why didn't you help?" Donna spat.

Kari let out a sigh, she should have seen this coming. "Because I can't. There are some things I just cannot get involved with. I can't interfere. I mean, you're Donna Noble, Super Temp." Donna was struggling to keep back the tears. "You're Donna Noble, and one day, the whole universe is going to know your name." Kari whispered to her, making sure the Doctor didn't catch her.

Donna looked at her, the tears now streaming down her face. Kari just enveloped the woman in a hug, which was welcomed.

"We've arrived. Want to see?" The Doctor called from the console.

Kari and Donna smiled at each other before Donna looked over at the Doctor. "I suppose."

"Oh, don't bother with the scanner, Doctor. I think Donna's way is best." Kari said, skipping over to the doors and pulling them open. "Come on, no human's ever seen this. You'll be the first."

Reluctantly Donna pushed herself off the chair. "All I want to see is my bed." She mumble, the Doctor following behind her.

"Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth." The Doctor said, beaming away. "We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas. That's the sun, over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."

"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked, captivated by the sight before her.

"All around us. In the dust." Kari told her, starting to drift off into her own little world.

She had never expected any of this to happen. She had always wondered what it would be like if life with the Doctor were real. Now she seemed to be living it, and he seemed to know her really rather well. It should scare her, it should freak her out, but she was able to just accept it and travel around with him in his TARDIS. She didn't seem to question things, she just accepted it and went along with it.

Now she was starting to think that maybe she had taken this all wrong. Maybe she did need to question things, and be more forceful with the Doctor to get answers from him. He seemed to know a lot, and she had to follow the adventures from what she already knew. She knew the Doctor was keeping things from her, and now she was starting to feel more determined to find out exactly what they were.

"Kari? You okay?" The Doctor asked her, pulling her away from the edge of the TARDIS and closer to him.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She told him, dragging herself back to what was now her reality. "Worked out what the first rock was yet?"

"Look." Donna pointed to a star pointed spaceship, coming into view from behind some gas clouds.

"The Racnoss." The Doctor confirmed before running over to the console, taking Kari with him. "Hold on, the Racnoss are hiding form the war. What's it doing?"

"Exactly what you said." Donna called, watching the Racnoss ship pull the other rocks towards it. The Doctor ran back to Donna, Kari still being dragged along.

"I'm really not a bloody rag doll you know." Kari moaned.

"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth. They became the centre of the Earth. The first rock." The Doctor said, looking out at the Earth starting to be pulled together.

The TARDIS gave a violent shock, the Doctor instantly grabbed hold of Kari, making sure she was safe while Donna held on tightly to the railings.

"What was that? Donna asked.

"Trouble." Kari told her, closing the doors and running to the console with the Doctor close behind her.

The TARDIS kept shaking and throwing them about. "What the hell's are you doing?" Donna asked, holding on for dear life.

"Ah, well, remember that little trick? Particles pulling particles? Well, it works in reverse and they are pulling us back." Kari said, grabbing hold of the sledgehammer. The Doctor just eyed her curiously while Donna continued to ramble on about hand breaks, warping and beaming. She pulled something out from the console, she knew exactly what it was and let a grin spread across her face.

The Doctor's face just lit up. "Oh, Kari you are brilliant." He shouted, understanding what she was going to do.

"Yes, I am." Kari said before whacking the extrapolator with the hammer. "There we go, that should annoy the Empress of the Racnoss."

The Doctor grabbed Kari, hugging her and swinging her around at the same time. "My brilliant Kari!" He said, laughing away.

"Yes, I'm brilliant, now put me down. This isn't over yet." She told him, whacking the tops of his arms till he let her go.

"Where are we?" Donna asked as they stepped out of the TARDIS.

"About 200 yards to the right. Come on." The Doctor said, grabbing Kari's hand and running along the corridor.

"But what do we do?" Donna asked as the Doctor stopped at a metal door, similar to the one he opened before to get his bearings.

"I don't know. I'm making it up as I go along. But trust me, I've got history." The Doctor told her, inspecting the door.

"He does. And he does it so brilliantly at times." Kari said staying as close to the Doctor as she could. She was ready for what was to come, she was not going to let herself get into more trouble.

"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles, but what for?"

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. If Huon particles ceased to exist, the Racnoss will stop. They just stay in hibernation for billions of years, frozen, dead, kaput." The Doctor was rambling.

"Doctor, shut up. Donna's gone." Kari told him. She felt slightly ashamed of herself for not helping Donna, and stopping her from being taken. But she knew she needed to be taken if the Huon particles in her were to be removed.

"Oh. What'd you let that happen for?" He asked her curiously.

"I have my reasons. Now, sonic, door. Get on with it." Kari said getting his attention back to what he was doing before heading off away from him.

"Oi, where are you going?" He asked her, worry showing on his face.

"Me? I'm getting ready to help you save Donna. Chop chop!" She said, clapping her hands together before running off.

Kari had found herself the perfect hiding spot. She was exactly where she needed to be when the Doctor's rescue goes a little wrong.

"My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them." The Empress called. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor man."

"Oh well, nice try." The Doctor said, pulling off the black robe and the robot mask he as wearing. "I've got you, Donna." He called, pointing his screwdriver at te webbing that was holding Donna above the large pit in the room.

"I'm gonna fall." She cried, as the web started to give way.

"You're going to swing. I've got you." The Doctor assured her. His arms were out stretched and ready to catch her.

Donna started her swing, screaming away, but she wasn't heading for the Doctor, she was heading towards Kari. She opened her arms as the ginger woman in her wedding dress got closer to her. She grabbed hold of Donna and they both fell to the ground.

"Thanks." Donna said, helping Kari get up. Kari just smiled back at her, glad to have saved her from hitting the ground.

"You both okay down there?" The Doctor called.

"Yeah, we're fine. No thanks to you, spaceman." Donna called back to him.

"Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you and your children a place in the universe to co-exist. Take that offer and end this now." The Doctor said firmly.

"These men are so funny."

"What's your answer?" The Doctor demanded to know.

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline." She replied. She was very confident, and very stupid.

"Then what happens next is your own doing." Kari knew from the Doctor's tone that he was no long being kind and forgiving. No more second chances.

"I'll show you what happens next." The Empress spat. "At arms! Take aim! And…"

"Relax." The Doctor said, and all the robots stopped, slumping down as if they had been turned off.

"What did you do?" Donna asked him, not seeing the huge grin on Kari's face.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" He pulled a remote control, similar to the one from earlier, out. "Pockets."

"How did that fit in there?" She asked in amazement.

"They're bigger on the inside." Kari told her, trying not to break down in laughter.

"Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh." The Empress announced.

"Oh, but I'm not from Mars." The Doctor told her.

"Then where?"

"My home planet is far away and long since gone. But its name lives on." The Doctor told her.

"Gallifrey." The Doctor and Kari said at the same time.

"They murdered the Racnoss." The Empress spat, she was hissing away, clearly unhappy.

"I warned you. You did this." The Doctor told her, pulling out some of the exploding Christmas decorations. They floated up in the air and rushed around. Kari closed her eyes, knowing the destruction that was going to follow.

Donna just looked on in horror as the fires took hold and the water started to flood in. The water starting rushing over the edge of the hole and pours straight down. Kari kept her eyes tightly shut as she heard the screaming coming from below.

"Doctor! You can stop now!" Donna shouted, getting his attention.

He looked down and saw Kari and Donna standing there. "Come on. Time to find a way out." He said, finally coming back to his senses and running down the stairs to the women. He grabbed Kari by the hand and the three of them charged back up the stairs and along the corridor.

"But what about the Empress?" Donna asked as they climbed the ladder, heading for the surface.

"She's used up all her Huon energy. She's defenceless." The Doctor said, climbing the ladder behind Donna.

The Doctor managed to get the hatch open just as the Empress's ship came under attack from several missiles. Donna was the first one out, quickly followed by the Doctor who wasted no time in helping Kari up as well. Once the trio were standing outside on the top of the Thames flood barrier, the Doctor held Kari tightly, while Kari held onto Donna.

"There's just one problem." Donna said, trying not to laugh too hard.

"What is it?" The Doctor asked, looking over at her.

"We've drained the Thames." Donna and Kari said together. Before they all burst out laughing.

"Um, I think that maybe we should get out of here. I have a feeling that UNIT are going to be crawling all over this place very soon. And I'm sure that…" Kari paused for a moment, having to think carefully. "Nope. Never mind that, too soon."

The Doctor looked at her in shock. "Kari, did you just think before you spoke?"

Kari glared at him. "Do you want me to push you off?" In an instant the Doctor knew that she would do it if he weren't careful.

They eventually made their way back to the TARDIS and landed outside of Donna's home. "There we go. Told you she'd be alright. She can survive anything." The Doctor said, proud of his ship.

"More than I've done." Donna said sadly.

Kari pulled out the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and scanned Donna with it. "Well, all the Huon particles are gone. No damage." Kari said, putting it back into his jacket pocket.

"You're fine." The Doctor told her, smiling away at Kari.

"Yeah, but apart from that. I missed my wedding, I lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."

"We couldn't have saved him. I'm sorry, Donna." Kari said as the Doctor gripped her hand.

"He deserved it." Donna said, making both Kari and the Doctor raise an eyebrow. "No, he didn't. I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have." The Doctor told her, watching her parents hug through the window. "Oh, no. I forgot, you hate Christmas."

"Yes. I do." Donna confirmed.

"Even if it snows?" The Doctor asked before reaching inside the door of the TARDIS. A beam of light shot out from the lamp on the top of the TARDIS, resulting in snow.

"I can't believe you did that!" Donna exclaimed, laughing away.

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation." Kari said casually. The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her, knowing that she was trying to show off.

"Merry Christmas." Donna said after a moment of silence.

"And you. So, what will you do with yourself now?" The Doctor asked, glancing at Kari staring up at the sky sadly.

"Not get married, for starters. And I'm not going to temp any more. I don't know, travel. See a bit more of planet Earth, walk in the dust. Just go out there and do something."

The Doctor looked at Donna, slightly nervous. "Well, you could always…"

"What?"

"Come with us." The Doctor asked her.

"No."

"Donna Noble, you're still going to be my Super Temp." Kari said, smiling away at her.

"Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that?" Donna asked, looking between Kari and the Doctor.

"Not all the time." The Doctor told her.

"More like every other day." Kari added.

"I think you do. And I couldn't."

"I know." Kari said sadly. "We scare you to death. Well, more him than me." She said, nodding at the Doctor beside her. "The universe is amazing and wonderful, but terrible and scary as well." Kari turned to the Doctor. "Come on, time to go."

"Am I ever going to see you again?" Donna asked the pair.

"If we're lucky." The Doctor replied with a smile.

"Just promise me one thing. Find someone."

"I don't need anyone. I've got Kari."

Kari let out a sigh. "Yeah, but I'm not always there am I?"

"See, you do. Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you." Donna said, agreeing with Kari.

"Yeah. Thanks then, Donna. Good luck. And just be magnificent." The Doctor told her, unlocking the TARDIS door.

"I think I will, yeah." Donna answered before he stepped inside, leaving Kari and Donna alone.

"Be super, my super temp." Kari said, hugging her before following the Doctor inside and closing the door.

"Doctor! Kari!" Donna shouted.

"Oh, what is it?" The Doctor asked, poking his head out of the door, Kari's head appearing under his arm.

"That friend of yours. What was her name?"

Kari closed her eyes, she had forgotten about this part. "Her name was Rose." The Doctor told her before pulling Kari back in and closing the door. The Doctor paced around the console and the TARDIS dematerialised.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you guys think? And what do you think is going to happen next? Who will she meet next? **

**With my Mac away for repair, writing has been slightly difficult. I'm currently using a old laptop which has a broken keyboard. So I have a full size keyboard from a PC sitting on top, which has been an interesting challenge. **

**Now, is there any more requests for any particular episode? I've already had some and have been working on them, but I'm always open to hear more. **

**Pippa**


	9. A Break From Jumping

**Disclaimer: Yes, I think we all know by now really, don't we?**

**A/N: Sorry again for the long delay with the update. Slightly stressed right now. Anyway, thank you to all you lovely, wonderful, brilliant people who have reviewed/favourited/followed. You guys are just awesome. **

* * *

Kari sat down in the chair by the console, preparing herself for the worse. She knew that as soon as the adventures were over, she got pulled somewhere else. That was what she was waiting for, she had noticed the pattern, she had only ever been pulled when she was in the TARDIS. Except she didn't always arrive in the TARDIS.

It would appear that the Doctor had noticed that something was wrong. "Kari, what's the matter? Have you got a headache?" He asked in concern as he stopped wandering around the console and sat beside her.

"No, not yet. But it's only a matter of time now isn't it really?" Kari told him quietly. She wanted a break, she needed food and she needed rest. She wasn't used to so much running and danger, and excitement. Her body wasn't used to it and she still needed her sleep.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm tired, and I'm hungry. But I don't want to go to sleep in case I just disappear on you."

The Doctor frowned at her. "How many times have you seen me now?"

"This version of you? This is the second time. And a future you twice as well." She told him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"So this really is very early for you then." Kari could have sword she heard sadness in his voice. "How about we go somewhere for something to eat then?" He suggested.

"That would be… fantastic." Kari said, letting a smile form on her face.

"Any requests of where to go?" The Doctor asked, jumping out of the chair.

"Nope. Any where, any when. I don't care. As long as we're not in the TARDIS." Kari clamped her mouth closed and threw her hand over it. She hadn't wanted to tell him that. She didn't want him to know she had her suspicions of how the jumping worked.

"Why? What's wrong with the TARDIS?" He asked her curiously.

"Nothing. I love her to bits and she knows that." There was a happy hum. "See, she agrees. I just want to go somewhere, the two of us. Take a break from all the running and everything."

"You are such a bad liar. But I'm not even going to bother to ask." The Doctor told her, running around the console some more. "Somewhere calm, for dinner." He said, pulling the final lever on the console.

Once they had landed, the Doctor grabbed hold of Kari and pulled her to the doors. He had a mad grin on his face, and she could only smile back at him. "So, where are we then?" Kari wondered, tugging at his arm.

"Well, take a look." He said before pulling the door open and letting Kari step out.

She didn't know what to say. She was standing in what she could only describe as a giant glass tube. Everywhere she turned she could see out into space. "No way." She whispered, still trying to get over her initial shock.

"This is the best space food court in the galaxy. Food from all over the place, all served here. And, the views are pretty good as well. The whole place is made out of a glass like material, although it is much stronger." The Doctor told her, a smile on his face. He was happy, because Kari was happy.

"This is absolutely bloody fantastically brilliant." Kari exclaimed, jumping on the Doctor and hugging him. The Doctor just wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back tightly and beaming away.

"Come on, let's go." The Doctor eventually let her go and took hold of her hand, heading towards one of the food stands.

"So, how big is this place?" She asked as they stood in a queue.

"Oh, there's 284 floors of dining, and the top floor is something even more amazing." He told her, still beaming away at her. The Kari he was with was the same as she would be later on in her life. He was still able to amaze her and make her smile and laugh. Only this wasn't her yet, so he had to be very careful.

"I take it we are going to the top floor later?" Kari asked, her eyes shining.

"Well, I suppose we could. If you behave yourself."

"I always behave myself, thank you. It's you that gets us into trouble all the time." Kari protested, whacking him lightly on the arm.

"No, I'm pretty sure you have caused enough trouble on your own. Or you will, at least."

Kari let out a laugh. "Spoilers?" She asked him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes, spoilers. I'd love to know where you picked that word up from. Sometimes you come out with the strangest things."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't strange would I?" The Doctor let a small laugh slip out. "And you know how much better it is to be strange. Being normal is no fun at all."

"No, and you're perfect the way you are." He replied, kissing the top of her head quickly.

It didn't take then long to get their food and find a table against the window. Kari kept getting distracted from her food by the view, even though she was absolutely famished. The only thing's she had seen from space so far had been the Earth. She had viewed it from the moon and seen it being created, so the sight before her now was something new, and wonderful.

"I can't get over how amazing this place is. I mean, there are so many different species, foods, it's just brilliant. And do I even have to mention the view?" Kari asked as she took another mouthful of the food on her tray. It looked very similar to spaghetti and meatballs, but an alien version. And even though it looked similar, it tasted far better to anything she had ever tried back on Earth.

"Yeah, the view isn't bad at all is it?" The Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Kari. She hadn't even noticed him staring at her while she ate. "Tell you what, once you've finished that, we'll head up a few floors, try something else. Maybe get desert. If you have room."

Kari stared at him with wide eyes. "Of course I have room! I haven't eaten since the next time you meet me." Her hand flew over her mouth to stop her from saying anything else.

The Doctor shook his head at her. She still had a big mouth. "And how long ago was that for you?" He asked.

"Oh, now you're asking." Kari said, moving her hand and thinking. "It has to be at least 4 days. I think."

The Doctor frowned at her. "And I take it you haven't slept in just as long?" Kari nodded at him. She knew that the adrenalin would keep her awake if she really needed it to. She just wanted to satisfy her stomach. "Best make sure you get some sleep after you have stuffed yourself."

Kari looked at him, frowning. "I am not stuffing myself thank you very much. I'm just enjoying some rather nice food, with a rather nice alien."

It was the Doctor's turn to frown again now. "Why are you calling me an alien?"

"Because, technically, you are. I'm a human turned Time Lord, or Lady if I really want to be correct. You're a Time Lord, born and lived on Gallifrey. I'm… I was…" Kari took a deep breath, trying to gather her words together.

The Doctor noticed, and leaned across the table, taking hold of her hands. "Kari, you are a Time Lord."

She shook her head. "No I'm not. I'm just an echo. A Time Lord is so much more." She paused, decided whether she should carry on or not. "A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering."

"Kari, stop this. You're my Kari, my beautiful, brilliant Kari." The Doctor was starting to worry now. "One day you will see that you truly are a Time Lord."

Kari let out a laugh. "Oh, I very much doubt that. I'm not Time Lord. I'm human plus."

The Doctor let out a groan. "Why won't you believe me?"

"Because I know, Doctor. It's not possible for me to be a Time Lord. You can't just make yourself a Time Lord, fact."

"But you are, Kari. You need to accept it." The Doctor insisted.

"Can we not do this? I call you an alien because a far as I'm concerned, to me, you are an alien." Kari said, pulling her hands away from the Doctor and getting up from her chair.

"Where are you going?" There was concern in his voice.

"Restroom. If that's okay with you?" Kari snapped. She needed a few minutes to just take a time out and clear her head.

"Yeah, sorry." The Doctor replied meekly. He could see that she was starting to get annoyed, and he knew form experience to just let her go and cool off.

"Back in a few then." Kari said, giving him a small smile before she walked off. She had no idea which direction she should be walking in, but she didn't really care, she just needed her space for a while.

She eventually found what looked like the restrooms. She took a chance and just stepped in. She seemed to have been right and headed for an empty cubical. Once she had locked the door behind her she leaned with her back against the door and put her head in her hands.

"Stupid bloody Time Lords." She mumbled.

"No, I'm sure it was her. No, you can't come in here. Just wait outside, and behave!" Kari's head shot up when she heard that voice. She recognised it, but there was no way she could be there. Was there?

Someone knocked on the door to the cubical Kari was in, making her jump away from the door. "Anyone in there?" The woman's voice called cheerfully.

"No." Kari said moodily, pulling the door open and frowning at the woman in front of her.

"Ha! I told him it was you." River cried, hugging Kari.

"Please don't tell me you're with the Doctor." Kari moaned.

"Well who else am I going to be with, darling?" River asked her in confusion.

"Well, I'm with a different Doctor. This isn't going to end well." Kari told her, knowing that the Doctor she was with didn't know anything about River Song.

"As long as we keep them away from each other it's fine. He knows he is here anyway. He warned me. But I knew as well and wanted to come here and see you."

Kari frowned at her. "Why did you want to come and see me?"

"Ah, because there is something I want to give you." River said, pulling a something wrapped in blue paper out of her pocket. She handed it to Kari who carried on looking at her in confusion. "Happy Birthday, Kari." River was grinning away.

"Birthday? What are you talking about? It's not my birthday. Is it?" Kari was completely lost now. She hadn't even thought about her birthday, she didn't even remember when it was.

"Yes. I know you don't remember when it is so every year I just pick a random day and surprise you." River told her excitedly.

"River! Will you hurry up. People are starting to stare at me." The Doctor's voice called through the main door.

"You better get out there, River. You know what he's like. I'm surprised he has actually stayed put and waited." Kari started pushing River towards the door.

"Oh, come on. You can at least say hello to him." River grabbed Kari's hand and pulled the door open, throwing her out and straight into the Doctor.

"River!" Kari cried, spinning around to look at the woman. River was laughing away. "I am so going to…" Kari stopped when someone put a hand over her mouth.

"Kari, be nice to River." A voice whispered in her ear. Her eyes grew wide and a smile took over her face. "Shall I move my hand now?" Kari nodded and the hand slowly moved from over her mouth.

She turned around to see the Doctor wearing his bow tie and tweed jacket. "And what brings you to this part of the galaxy?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "Well, I remember coming here once with someone very special. Thought I'd come back and relive some good times." Kari saw a glint in his eye and knew it was more than that.

"Oh, very nostalgic of you, Doctor. I thought it was because River wanted to see me." Kari said before jumping at him and hugging him.

"She did. But so did I. So, how about you spend just a few minutes catching up with me before I start looking for you in about…" He looked down at his watch. "Oh, 7 minutes."

"I guess I can manage that." Kari told him, smiling away. She was genuinely surprised to see both of them there, and it was even more of a surprise to know they came just to see her.

They walked over to a table, out of view of the other Doctor, and sat down. The whole time he didn't let go of her hand and River just kept grinning away.

Kari looked at the blue wrapping, wondering what was inside. River had noticed her looking and pulled something else out of her pocket. "Here, take this." She passed Kari a small shoulder bag. "It's bigger on the inside, and has a perception filter on it so he won't be able to spot it." River nodded to the Doctor.

Kari took the bag from River and thanked her. "So what have you two been up to?" She asked them.

"Oh, this and that." The Doctor answer,

"He just blew up the universe. And then rebooted it." River told her, knowing that the Doctor wasn't going to tell her.

"Ah, big bang 2." Kari said, a grin on her face. Then she remembered, back on the Byzantium, the Doctor. She turned to him and bit her lip, not wanting to say anything in front of River.

"I'm going to grab a drink." River said, noticing the way Kari was looking at the Doctor. "I'll be back in around 2 minutes. Chat amongst yourselves until then." She got up and winked at Kari before heading over to one of the stands.

"Why did you kiss me?" Kari said, before thinking. The Doctor shifted his gaze so he wasn't looking at her. "Back on the Byzantium, you kissed me, why?"

"It doesn't matter." The Doctor told her, gazing out of the window.

"Yes. It does. Because you kissed me, and you said something as well. You said that there was something you never told me. What was it?" She asked him, not getting her hopes up of getting an answer.

"I can't tell you. It's too soon." The Doctor said, finally looking at her.

"But it wasn't too soon on the Byzantium?" She questioned. Why would it have been okay for him to tell her then but not now?

"It's complicated. But I promise you, I will tell you. You will find out. From my perspective, I've already told you.

"Told me what?" Kari pressed. Her determination was starting to set in now.

"Kari, don't. I can't tell you."

"Tell me what?" She asked firmly.

"Stop it." The Doctor said quietly.

"Stop what? Asking for answers? You know me, and I know you. I know your future and past, without even having to have been there. I know. And what I also know is that the timelines are changing, things aren't how I know them to be. What's going on?" Kari wasn't going to give up. She was not going to give in. She wanted answers and she was going to do whatever she could to get them.

"Time can be rewritten. Time is always being rewritten. I told you that before." The Doctor told her, still not comfortable with looking at her.

"And sofa's can read. Yes, I know. You said that before as well. But I'm so fed up of not knowing what's going on. I know about events that are going to take place. I don't always know about the other things." Kari told him, trying to hold her emotions in. She was trying to be strong when all she wanted to do was cry from frustration.

"Oh, Kari. I wish I could tell you, I really do, but I can't. But I promise you, I do tell you." He insisted.

"Yeah, you keep saying that, Doctor. But I'm just getting so fed up of not knowing."

"I know that. You're not the only person that all this is affecting. I don't like that fact that you don't know, that you have no idea about certain things. The timelines between us are so messed up." The Doctor let out a sigh.

Kari could see that it was all upsetting the Doctor as well. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be pushy, I just want to know. I want to know where I stand, who I really am. My whole life was turned upside down not so long ago. Everything I thought I knew was wrong."

"Kari, listen to me. Everything will be fine. In time, you will know everything. And maybe one day the jumping will stop." The Doctor assured her, taking her hands and holding her gaze.

"Everything alright here?" River asked as she stood at the side of the table.

"Yeah, everything's fine, River." Kari said, her voice was slightly shaky.

"Okay, what's he done?" River asked. Both Kari and the Doctor just looked at her. "You're upset, and there is a lot of things that he can do to upset you. What was it?"

"Nothing, we were just talking. I was telling him what I've been up to." Kari told her as she sat back down.

"You're such a bad liar, darling." River told her, frowning at her. "Now are you going to tell me the…"

"Kari? Kari? Always wandering off. I always tell them, rule one, don't wander off." A familiar voice mumbled.

Kari let out a sigh. "I guess you're looking for me."

"Yeah, I… um, guess we better be going now then." The Doctor told her, getting up from his seat.

"Come visit me more often, okay River?" Kari said, standing up and hugging the woman.

"Oh, of course darling." River hugged her back tightly. "And try to keep him out of trouble. I know it's hard, but you do such a good job of it." She seemed to notice the awkwardness between the Doctor and Kari again. "I'll wait in the TARDIS. Bye Kari."

They watched as River weaved through the mass of humans and aliens until she disappeared. "So… I guess I'll see you again at some point." Kari stood there, playing with her hands, like she always seemed to do when she was nervous.

"Oh, yeah. You'll see me in a minute or less." The Doctor was trying to cheer her up a little, but he knew it wasn't going to work.

"Well, that's a past you. Slightly different. You're not as kooky in that regeneration." Kari told him, barely even paying any attention to his face.

"Kooky? You're calling me kooky?" He was pretending to be hurt.

Kari finally decided to look at him. "Yes. I am calling you kooky. My Doctor with the bow tie and tweet jacket, who seems to have a thing about owning a fez."

"Fezzes are cool." The Doctor said, pouting a little at her.

"Kari? Come on, where are you?" They heard the other Doctor call. He was starting to sound really worried now.

"I better go. Sounds like you're about to freak out with worry." Kari told the Doctor in front of her.

"Oh, no. That happens much later." He told her with a grin. "Anyway, you'll see me soon, Kari." He told her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Look after yourself, and please behave. No more blowing up the universe and then restarting it, okay?" Kari asked, as he finally let her go.

"I'm not making any promises." The Doctor told her, still grinning at her. "And I really need to go now, I'll be coming around that corner any second." He kissed the top of her head and quickly disappeared, leaving Kari standing there, staring into space.

"Kari, are you okay?" Someone asked as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

She turned and smiled at the Doctor in his pinstripe suit and tie. His converses on his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm really sorry about what happen earlier. I'm still trying to get used to everything."

"Don't worry about it. I understand. It must be pretty hard for you still, I mean, it's a lot to get used to and you haven't really had the time to get used to it have you?" Kari shook her head at him. It was always running, never stopping and talking about things.

"So, you got room for desert then?" The Doctor asked her, as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Sure." She answered quietly. She was still thinking about the other Doctor, him in the bow tie. He seemed to know so much but just wouldn't tell her. It really was starting to bother her.

"Kari, are you sure you're okay?" The Doctor asked her, noticing how she was a little quiet and distant.

"Yeah, sorry. My brain is slowing down, I blame my lack of sleep due to you and you're adventures. So yes, this is all your fault." She told him, poking him in the chest.

"Hang on, how is you being tired my fault?" He asked her as they walked towards the glass type of lift in the centre of the floor they were on.

"Well, I've not been able to get any sleep, because it's all one adventure after another. You never bloody sleep, so apparently, neither do I." Kari grumbled as they stepped into the lift.

"Sorry. After this you can sleep for as long as you want. I promise." The Doctor said to her, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah, promises, promises. Something tells me that is not going to happen." She mumbled. She wasn't going to keep her hopes up that she was going to have a decent sleep. She was expecting to be whisked away to somewhere else instead.

"Oh, come on. Let's go and get some desert." He led her out of the lift and over to another food stand. They sat down and eat what looked like chocolate eggs, filled with ice cream, toffee, fudge, and so many other sweet treats.

Kari couldn't eat all of hers, so the Doctor decided to finish it off for her, after he had eaten all of his. The sight of him stuffing his face with so many sugary foods was enough to make her stomach turn.

"How can you eat that much? Oh, you are going to be on such a sugar rush for hours now aren't you?" She moaned, only just thinking about how hyper he could get.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm not a human child, I don't have sugar rushes." The Doctor told her, wiping the mess from around his face.

"Oh, so you're just naturally hyper then. That's explains it." The Doctor gave her a light whack on the arm.

"So, want to go and visit the top floor then?" The Doctor asked, his eyes wide and shining.

"Yes please." Kari had been waiting to go there. He hadn't told her what was up there and she had been hoping so badly that he would take her there.

Several minutes later, they were on the top floor. The Doctor insisted on taking the TARDIS up there, because apparently she liked the view up there as well. Kari had gone up in the lift, not wanting to risk going back to the TARDIS just yet. The Doctor had questioned her about it at first but eventually settled for her reasoning of wanting to look around some more.

Kari stepped out of the lift and the Doctor was already up there and waiting for her. He instantly took hold of her hand and they walked away from the lift.

"Wow. This is just… wow." The roof was made of the glass like material the Doctor had told her about earlier. Outside she could see space, all the stars and comets. The different colours that were swirling around. It was amazing. She had thought the view from the sides had been something, this was even more spectacular.

"Not bad, is it?" The Doctor said, as he stopped walking and looked at Kari. After a few moments of just gazing at each other, the Doctor pulled some strange device out form his pocket.

"What's that for?" Kari asked as he started playing with it.

"Environment bubble." He said before placing it in the ground.

Kari looked around and noticed that others were using the environment bubbles as well. Inside one she could see what looked like a purple and yellow tree. Another contained a pair of strange looking aliens who were both sitting in what Kari could only describe as metal bowls.

She had been so busy looking around at everyone else that she had failed to notice the bubble encase her and the Doctor. "Kari?" The Doctor called softly, touching her arm to get her attention.

She turned to him, a smile on her face. "Okay, I can't actually think of any words for this." She said before her eyes were drawn to the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw she was standing on red grass. And she knew of only one place where there was red grass.

The Doctor pulled something else out of his pocket, a blanket. He spread it out on the grass and sat down with Kari. "So, what do you think then?" He asked her as she kicked her shoes off.

"I repeat what I said earlier, I'm actually speechless." She told him as she let her feet be tickled by the blades of red grass.

"Speechless? I never thought I'd see the day when my Kari was speechless. This really is a momentous occasion." The Doctor said to her, earning a whack on the arm.

Kari made herself more comfortable and forced the Doctor to lay down on his back. It wasn't actually that hard for her to do it, he was already leaning back, resting on his elbows. All she had to do was pull at one of his arms and he went back.

She snuggled herself up to him, looking up and out into space. She still couldn't believe that it was all real, that this was her life. It was fantastic, but scary. She was spending time with the Doctor, and she loved it. The only thing that worried her was how close to him she was getting. She was still breaking all the rules she had set for herself. It couldn't end well.

Eventually she started to doze off, but the time had come for her to be disturbed, much to her annoyance. "Come on, Kari. I think it's time we headed back to the TARDIS now." The Doctor said, nudging her lightly to wake her up.

"But I don't want to. Can't we just stay here for a little while longer?" She mumbled, really not wanting to go to the TARDIS.

"No, we can't. You're falling asleep out here. You're better off in your own bed, in your room, in our TARDIS."

"I'm not going. I'm staying right here." Kari told him. She kept her eyes tightly shut and refused to move again.

"Right, well if you're not going to walk, then I'm just going to have to carry you aren't I?" He said, pushing her off him and standing up.

Kari opened one eye to look at him. "You wouldn't dare." She saw a mischievous grin spread across the Doctor's face. "Oh, God. You would wouldn't you?" The Doctor just kept watching her. "Fine. You're going to have to carry me. I am not moving." And she closed her eye again.

The Doctor didn't hesitate. As soon as her eyes were closed he was gathering her up in his arms. Kari tried to be awkward and wriggled around as he tried to get hold of her, but he seemed to be wise to her games.

Kari gave in and let out a sigh. "Have you done this before with me?" She asked, wondering how he knew exactly what she was trying to do.

"Yup. You never change." He told her cheerfully. Kari let out a sigh of defeat, there was no point wasting what little energy she had by fighting him.

That all changed as they got closer to the TARDIS. At first, Kari thought she was just imagining things, paranoia setting in. She blamed her tiredness for the slight pounding she could feel in her head. She half opened one eye and saw how close they were to the TARDIS, and then she panicked.

"No, I don't want to go back yet. I want to stay here some more. Please, can we stay for a little bit long?" Kari begged, now struggling in the Doctor's arms.

The Doctor frowned at her. "Kari, what's the matter? Why wouldn't you want to go in the TARDIS?" He asked her, not knowing about her theory.

"Please, Just put me down, we can stay for a bit longer, can't we?" She could feel her head starting to pound even more now. She was starting to think that her theory was right.

"Kari, you're tired. You need to get some proper sleep. I'm sorry, but it's time to go." The Doctor told her as the doors to the TARDIS opened by themselves.

As soon as they were inside Kari felt the pain in her head get even worse. The Doctor eventually put her down in the chair by the console before dashing around the console and sending them off into the vortex.

Kari looked down at her hands and saw them starting to glow. The golden mist beginning to surround her. "Doctor…" She whispered.

The Doctor poked his head around the time rotor and his face fell when he saw her. "Oh, Kari."

"Looks like I still won't be getting any of that much needed sleep, does it?" She said, letting a tear fall down her face.

"Kari, it's okay. I'll see you soon, yeah?" The Doctor said, walking over to her. "I promise, everything will be okay." He kissed her lightly on the lips and stepped away from her.

"Doctor, I don't want to…" Kari's sentence was cut off when the glow completely over took her and she was pulled from the TARDIS.

* * *

**A/N: And so we have another chapter. Coming up next, even more fun! So let me know what you fantastic people thought, I get all excited when I get that little email telling me I have a new review. Or drop me a PM if you want to, I don't mind. **

**Now, here's the big question. When should Kari find out what everyone else seems to know? Should it be soon? Or should she have to wait a little longer? Poll will be up on my profile. Or you can tell me you're views in a review, or a PM. whatever way suits you best. **

**And thank you again, without you guys, I wouldn't even be posting this, or any other story. So I thank you.**

**Pippa.**


	10. The Empty Child

**Disclaimer: Same old thing. I still fail to own Doctor Who. **

**A/N: With my beloved MacBook back, updates should be more normal. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. The poll is now up on my profile as to when Kari should know the truth, so go check that out. **

**And now, let's have some fun with a certain Captain Jack Harkness!**

* * *

Kari took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was her hands, and they were no longer glowing.

"Who are you and how did you get on my ship?" An American man asked her angrily.

Kari put her head in her hands and let out a groan. "Please tell me you're not holding a gun at me and that we are not in London, 1941?" Kari asked, not even bothering to look at the man.

"What's your name?" He asked, not answering any of her questions.

"Kari." She told him, finally lifting her head up and out of her hands. She quickly wiped away the tears that had fallen when she had left the Doctor.

"Are you okay?" The man asked her, lowering his gun.

"Not really, no. But nothing anyone can do about it." She said as she pushed herself off the floor. Unfortunately, she was still exhausted and immediately her legs gave way underneath her.

"Whoa, easy there. I've already got one pretty young thing passed out in here." The man told her, grabbing her and keeping her steady.

Kari looked over to the bed and saw Rose laying there. "Ah, one Rose Tyler. Brilliant."

"You know her?" He asked, there was a slight hint of surprise in his tone.

"Yup. I do indeed know her. She's got a right mouth on her that one." Kari said before looking back at the man who had his hands on her hips. "So, aren't you going to introduce yourself? I mean, you just rescued my friend from a barrage balloon, and you didn't kill me when I just randomly appeared."

"Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer." He told Kari as he pulled out a wallet and flipped it open.

Kari took it from him and looked at it. "Aww, look at you, using psychic paper to flirt. You know, your American accent is all you need if you want to win me over." She said, passing it back to him.

He looked down at the paper, expecting there to be something from the mystery woman he had just met on there, but it was blank. He looked at her. "How did you know it's psychic paper?"

"Seen it so many times before. Besides, I know who you are, Captain." Kari said, leaning a little closer towards him. "Ex-Time Agent turned con man." She whispered in his ear.

"Who are you?" Jack asked her, seemingly a little freak out from what she knew.

"I told you, I'm Kari." She had to hold her giggles, that was something the Doctor was always having to say to people, except he was the Doctor.

Jack pulled her closer towards him, his hands still resting on her hips. "Okay, so how do you know me, Kari?" He asked her.

Kari looked up at him and let out a sigh. "Time travel. I never seem to meet anyone in the right order. My time line is a complete mess. I know so much about you, Jack. I know where your life leads. But this is the first time you have met me."

Jack could see from her eyes that she was telling the truth. There was something about her that he felt that he could trust. "Okay, so where does a pretty girl like you fit into my future?" Jack asked her. He was definitely trying to flirt with her.

"Oh, Jack. Those pheromones of yours won't work on me." She told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He raised an eyebrow at her action. "You sure about that?"

"Oh yes. I am so sure. But just because they don't work on me, doesn't me I haven't wanted to do this for a very, very long time." She said before tugging him down to her level a little.

"Oh, yeah? How long?" Jack asked her, a grin on his face as he realised she was actually flirting with him.

"Longer than you can imagine, Captain." Kari said. She thought about the Doctor, and how he always seemed so affectionate towards her. But he wasn't there, and she still didn't know why he was like that with her.

She pushed all thoughts of the Doctor out of her head and pressed her lips against Jacks. To her surprise he didn't push her away, it was quite the opposite. He was kissing her passionately, one of his hands resting at the base of her spine and the other running through her hair.

They finally broke apart, Jack seeming a little more breathless than Kari, both with huge grins on their faces.

"I'm going to get into so much trouble for that one day. But it was definitely worth it." Kari said, gazing into Jack's eyes. She knew that the Doctor was probably going to yell and shout at her for it, but she really didn't care. If he couldn't be honest with her, why should she care?

"Trouble with the boyfriend?" Jack asked curiously.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Girlfriend then?"

Kari let out a little laugh. "Nope. Not got one of those either. She keeps turning me down."

"So why are you going to get into trouble?" He asked, wanting to find out more about her.

"Complicated. Just like my whole life is." Kari told him with a sigh. She was comparing the kiss with Jack to that of the Doctor. The time he kissed her on the Byzantium, it was so tender, and passionate, and she couldn't help but think there was something more to it. But the kiss with Jack had just been wild and passionate, just a kiss.

"Well, Kari, you claim to know a lot about me, but I know next to nothing about you." Jack said as he sat down in the captain's chair. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? Starting with why you have two hearts?" He pulled her onto his lap, taking her slightly by surprise.

"Ah, yeah, I keep forgetting about that." Kari mumbled as she started playing with her hands in her lap.

"You keep forgetting you have two hearts?"

"Yup. Like I said, complicated. I'm going to just assume that you felt them both beating." Kari was starting to feel a little overcome with nerves, which seemed a little strange since she knew that she was perfectly safe.

"Oh yeah. They were definitely beating back then." There was a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "You going to tell me who you really are then?"

"Nah, you'll find out soon enough." Kari told him, looking over at Rose. She should be waking up soon, then they would go and find the Doctor. She wondered how surprised he would be to see her, or if he had even met her yet. No, of course he had met her, she had always been in his life. That was what he had told her.

"A mysterious woman appears in a golden light, with two hearts and knows who I am. Then, she decides to kiss me. Not a bad night for me so far." Jack said, trying to tease Kari a little.

"Oh, Jack. That's going to be the highlight of your night. It's all downhill from here. Trust me, I know." Kari told him with a heavy sigh. "Anyway, here's the deal, Jack. You ignore everything I have told you when Rose wakes up. Have fun with her and the psychic paper."

Jack tilted his head to the side a little and looked at her curiously. "And why's that?"

"Because I know you want to flirt with her. So do it. You'll find out more from her than you will from me." Kari told him,

"I'm guessing we get on pretty well in the future?" Jack asked her.

Kari laughed a little. She hadn't been completely honest with him. She hadn't told him that this was actually the first time that she had met him. "You have no idea." She had no idea either, but she hoped that they did. She had always loved his flirty ways.

"So how are we going to play this then?" He asked her.

"Make it up as we go along. Trust me, I have history." She couldn't help but grin even more at saying that. That was something that the Doctor had said, or would say. "And Rose will be waking up in 3, 2, 1."

Rose started to stir on the bed. She stood up and started looking around while Kari just made herself a little more comfortable on Jack's lap, while trying to hold in her laughter.

"Better now?" Jack asked Rose, getting her attention.

"You got lights in here?" Rose asked, squinting to see through the darkness. She blinked several times as Jack turned the lights on.

"Hello." Jack said, looking at Rose over Kari's shoulder.

Rose's eyes widened. "Kari! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Have you seen…"

Kari burst out laughing. "Now Rose, say hello to our gracious host here. He did save you after all."

"Sorry, hello." Rose said, still stunned. "But Kari, how did you get here?"

"Same way I get everywhere, Rose. Now, focus." Kari told her, keeping a grin plastered across her face.

Rose just shook her head. "So, who're you supposed to be then?" She asked Jack.

Kari had to move a little so that Jack could reach into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. It was psychic paper time. "Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer." He passed the wallet over to Rose who smiled when she saw it.

"Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me." Rose said confidently. Kari again had to control her giggles.

Jack let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, making Kari lean back with him. "How do you know?" He asked.

"Two things. One, we have a friend that uses this all the time and two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out."

"Tricky thing psychic paper." Jack said, reaching his arm out to take the wallet back.

"Yeah. Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." Rose told him, placing it back in his hand.

He immediately opened it and Kari started the giggling again. "Oh, you sort of have a boyfriend called Micky Smith but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free."

"What?" Rose said, trying to laugh it off.

Kari looked at the paper. "Actually the word you use is 'available'. And another one 'very'." Kari shook her head. "Oh, wait till I tell Mickey about this. You're in a heap of trouble missy."

"Me? What about you? Getting all cosy with Captain Jack there." Rose said, glaring at her. "What if I tell… you know… about this? How do you think this is going to look?"

Kari let out a sigh. "Great, so even you know. Everyone knows but me. Why does everyone know, but no one willing to tell me?" She moaned.

Rose eyed Kari carefully. "How early is this for you?"

"Very early. As in right at the beginning. As in I have no clue as to what the hell is going on because no one will tell me anything." Kari told her, her temper starting to flare a little.

"Oh." Rose said, her face falling a little. "So you don't know yet."

"Don't know what?" Kari demanded, letting her temper get the better of her.

"N… nothing. Never mind. It doesn't matter." Rose said, flinching at little at the way Kari spoke.

"People need to stop saying that to me. I am getting sick and tired of being flung through time and space and having the people I trust hide things from me." Kari spat, forgetting that she was still sitting on Jack's lap. "I haven't slept in almost a week. I've ran from Judoon and got trapped on a crashed spaceship in a maze, full of deadly statues and almost been killed by robots. For once, I just want to know what the hell is going on."

Rose just looked at her with wide eyes, looking rather terrified of her. She had never seen Kari this angry before, even though the Doctor had warned her what she could be like when she did get angry. She hadn't been prepared for it, Rose never thought she would see that side of her.

Kari felt a hand touch her back. She turned her head and looked at Jack. "Hey, getting angry isn't going to help the situation is it, Kari?" Jack told her softly, lightly rubbing her back.

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "No, you're right. Sorry." She opened her eyes and turned to Rose. "Sorry, Rose. It's been a rough few days."

"Sounds like it." Rose said, laughing nervously, getting up from where she was perched and looking around the ship.

"I take it your eyes always glow when you get angry?" Jack whispered to Kari as they both stood up.

She quickly turned to him. "What?"

"Okay, I take it you didn't know that?" Kari shook her head at him. "Well, you've got eyes that I have never seen before. They're just a bright golden colour. But just now, when you were angry, they were kind of glowing as well." Jack told her.

"Oh lovely. Something else to add to my weirdness list." She mumbled, turning to watch Rose.

"Nice spaceship." Rose said as she ran her hand over something above her.

Jack just shrugged and stuck close to Kari. He knew there was something different about her and it intrigued him. He could also see that she needed a friend, someone who wasn't going to judge her or keep secrets from her. For some reason, he just couldn't explain, he wanted to be that someone. "I get's me around."

"Very…"

"Please don't say it, Rose." Kari mumbled.

"Spock." Rose said, making Kari hide her head in her hands.

"Who?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Guessing you're not a local boy then?" Rose asked as she headed over to the captain's chair to take a look outside.

"A mobile phone, a liquid crystal watch and fabrics that won't be around for at least another 2 decades. Guessing you're not a local girl." Jack said as he scanned her with the device on his wrist.

"Guessing right." Rose told him as she placed her hands down to lean on them and look out the window better. She flinched in pain as soon as she done it.

"Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack asked, still not leaving Kari's side.

"Yeah. We're parked in mid-air. Can't anyone down there see us?" She asked, finally getting her look out of the window.

"No. Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?" Jack asked.

Rose looked at him. "Why?"

Kari let out a sigh. "Rose, just do it, okay?" There was still a hint of anger in Kari's voice as Jack walked over to Rose and scanned them with a small pen like device.

"You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away." Jack told her.

"Time Agent?" Rose queried. Kari had to hold back the laughter again. Luckily both Rose and Jack were too distracted to even notice.

"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon." He said before looking over at Kari. "Or in a golden light storm." He threw her a wink, which she quickly returned. "Do you always travel that way?"

"Sometimes I get swept of me feet." Rose said dreamily. "By balloons." She quickly added while Jack tied her hands together with his scarf. "What are you doing?"

Jack just smiled at her. "Try to keep still." He flicked a switched and a small golden mist floated around her hands.

"Nanogenes, subatomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired 3 layers of your skin." Kari told her as Jack flicked the switch again and they disappeared.

"Well, tell them thanks." Rose said as Jack untied her hands and she inspected the carefully.

"Shall we get down to business?" Jack asked, while Kari smiled. She knew what was going to happen next.

"Business?" Rose asked in confusion as Jack went a stood by Kari, picking up a bottle of champagne on the way.

"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He pushed a button and a ramp lowered down from the roof of the ship.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask." Kari said, heading up the ramp and taking Jack with her. "Bring up the glasses will you Rose." She called back.

"I take it you have a lot of issues with not knowing about yourself. That's why you don't like to talk about yourself." Jack asked as they stood on top of his spaceship.

"Yup. And you know what that's like don't you, Jack? Not knowing who you are, missing some memories." Kari replied, looking out at the fire and smoke filled skies of London.

"Yeah, I do. But hey, seems like you've got it worse off than me." Jack said, dropping an arm across her shoulders.

"My life could be better, sure. But I'll let you in on a little secret Jack. It's been worth it to meet you." Jack let out a loud laugh and Rose appeared at the top of the ramp.

"I know I'm standing on something." Rose said, seeming a little unsteady. Jack just grinned and pulled out a control from his pocket and pressed a button. The ship that they were all standing on suddenly became visible. "Okay, you have an invisible spaceship." Rose was clearly impressed.

"Yeah." Jack said, working on opening the corked bottle of champagne.

"Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason." Rose noticed.

"First rule of active camouflage." Jack told her.

"Park somewhere you'll remember." Kari said at the same time as him. Making them both laugh. They laughed even harder as the cork finally popped off and Jack filled the glasses that Rose had brought up with her.

"Oh, vintage champagne. You certainly know how to treat a woman, Jack." Kari said a cheeky grin on her face.

Jack let out a light laugh. "But you're not any woman, are you Kari. You're more a princess. Only the best for you." He said, making sure to give her a cheeky smile.

"Flattery will get you anywhere." Kari told him, knowing that Rose was watching the pair closely.

"Good to know." Jack said, watching Kari as she took a sip of her champagne.

"Come on, Rose. Drink up." Kari said, giving Rose a little nudge before perching herself on part of the roof next to Jack. "You've got good taste, Captain." Kari said, clinking her glass against his.

"Oh, in more ways than one." Jack told her, giving her a cheeky wink. It was all making Rose feel a little uncomfortable.

"You know, it's getting a bit late. We should really be getting back." Rose said.

"We're discussing business." Jack protested.

"This isn't business. This is champagne." Rose pointed out.

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head." Jack told her, grinning away with Kari.

"Oh, I'll drink to that." She said, knocking her glass against Jack's again.

"Well, I guess you ladies aren't travelling alone. Are you authorised to negotiate with me?" Jack asked, looking at Rose.

"What would we be negotiating?" She asked him.

Jack gave Kari a glance and she gave him a nod and a wink and he stood up. "I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?" Jack asked as he approached Rose.

"Well, I should talk to our companion." Rose stuttered.

"Companion?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We should really be getting back to him." Rose said, throwing a hopefully look at Kari.

"Him?"

"Do you have the time?" Rose asked, trying to ignore how close to her Jack was. He uses his remote and the face of Big Ben lit up and chimed. "Okay, that was flash. That was on the flash side."

"So when you say companion, just how disappointed should I be?" Jack asked Rose. Kari just sat there watching. She knew he was going to flirt away, and she was enjoying watch how nervous and awkward Rose was feeling.

"Okay, we're standing in mid-air. On a spaceship, during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming onto me?" Rose asked him.

Jack shrugged. "Perhaps not." He told Rose before moving away from her and heading over to Kari. He held out a hand and she took it, putting her glass down and allowing him to pull her up.

"Do you like Glenn Miller?" Jack whispered to her, before Moonlight Serenade started to play. He pulled Kari closer to him and they slowly started dancing. Kari had to admit, she was rather comfortable in the arms of Captain Jack Harkness.

As they danced, Jack looked over Kari's shoulder and at Rose. "It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz. The height of the German bombing campaign, and something else had fallen on London. A fully equip Chula warship. The last one in existence armed to the teeth." Kari listened the whole time Jack had been talking, even though she knew he wasn't talking to her. "And I know where it is, because I parked it."

Jack pulled Kari even closer, Rose looked very put out, standing there while they danced. "If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours… a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal." The dancing suddenly ceased, much to Kari's disappointment. "Now, shall we discuss payment?"

Rose just looked at him, not really know what to say. "Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater." Jack warned her, still holding Kari. "Are you listening to any of this?"

"You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer." Rose said, finally coming back to her senses.

"Well, that's a little harsh." Jack protested.

"He likes to think of himself as a criminal." Kari added, know that Jack would have said it himself, if she had given him the chance.

"I bet you do." Rose said, a smile creeping across her face. She was rather interested in the man.

"So, this companion of your, does he handle the business?" Jack asked, looking between Kari and Rose.

"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah." Rose told him.

"And what about you, Princess?" He asked Kari.

"Oh, I don't like to get my hands dirty. What princess does?" She replied, smiling cheekily at Jack. "I suppose we should go and find him then. Oh, he is in for a shock when he see's that I'm here."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Rose asked.

"Easy." Jack said, flashing a grin. "I'll do a scan for alien tech." He said, letting go of Kari and pulling open the device on his wrist.

"Finally, a professional." Rose whispered.

"Watch it, or I'll tell him you said that." Kari warned her. She knew she was already treading on thin ice and was pushing it to the limit. But right now, she didn't care. She had already had a tough week, if the Doctor wanted to shout and yell at her, she was just going to let him.

Kari let out a sigh. "He's at Albion Hospital. And I think we want to move it. Can't forget about that bomb that going to completely destroy the Chula warship."

"Better get going then hadn't we? Ladies first." Jack said, ushering Kari and Rose back into the ship.

It didn't take them too long to get to the hospital and find what floor the Doctor was on.

"Hello?" Jack called through the corridors.

Rose joined in. "Hello?"

Kari just walked a few paces behind, not really wanting to get noticed by the Doctor when they found him.

"Hello?" Jack called again. The door at the end of the corridor opened and a man in a black leather jacket stepped out. Kari kept hidden around the corner. For some reason, fear had taken her over, as well as nerves. "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over." Jack said, shaking the Doctor's hand.

"He knows. I had to tell him. About us being Time Agents." Rose informed the Doctor.

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr Spock." Jack said, slapping him on the back before walking past him and into the ward the Doctor had just stepped out from.

"Mr Spock?" The Doctor questioned. Clearly not happy with the name Rose had given him.

"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?" Rose asked him. Kari gave a quiet little groan, the amount of times she was going to hear that question was going to annoy her.

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll." The Doctor asked her.

"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid." She told him, starting to walk towards the ward.

"What?"

Suddenly Rose stopped, and turned to face the Doctor. "Oh, and I met someone else on the way." Rose said, looking around for Kari.

Kari took a deep breath and stepped out from around the corner. It was surprisingly dark and she was well hidden in the shadows. She slowly walked towards the Doctor, he was frowning, he didn't know who it was.

She stepped into the light and looked up at the Doctor. His eyes lit up and he charged towards her. "Kari! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Oh, this is fantastic!" He said, picking her up and spinning her around.

"Yes, alright, Doctor. You can put me down now." Kari said, starting to feel a little light headed.

"Seriously, how did you get here?" He asked her as he finally put her down.

"Same way I always get somewhere." Kari told him, frowning and folding her arms across her chest.

Rose just shook her head, knowing that Kari wasn't interested in answering his questions. "Listen, what's a Chula warship?" She asked.

"Chula?" The Doctor questioned before grabbing Kari's hand and pulling her into the ward with him. "What are you dressed like that for anyway?" The Doctor asked her, looking at the dress she was still wearing.

"Oh, was at a wedding. Haven't had a chance to get changed yet." She told him casually, watching Jack scan the bodies in the beds with his wrist device.

"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack asked after he finished scanning some bodies.

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked, still holding Kari's hand tightly with Rose beside them.

"What?"

"He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's gonna fall on it. Unless we make him an offer." Rose said, filling the Doctor in on some of what had happened back at Jack's ship.

"What kind of warship?" the Doctor asked again.

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this." Jack protested, waving at all the bodies in the beds.

"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" The Doctor pressed. He was starting to get angry now. Kari had almost forgotten how easy it was for this Doctor to get angry. It was too easy.

"An ambulance." Kari said, making everyone look at her. "What?"

Jack got everyone's attention when he pulled up a hologram of the ship. "Look, that's what you chased through the time vortex. It's space junk, it wanted to kid you it was valuable, it's empty. I made sure of it, nothing but a shell." Jack pushed a button on his device and the hologram disappeared. "I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look by the way, nice panels, threw you the bait…"

"Bait?" Rose asked in shock.

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

"You said it was a warship." Rose seemed to be a little confused so Kari decided she was going to clear that up for her.

"That have ambulances in wars, Rose."

"It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents, well, apart from my Princess over there." He winked at Kari and she blushed a little. "You're not, are you?"

"Just a couple more freelancers." Rose said in disgust.

"Hang on, your what?" The Doctor said angrily, taking a step towards Jack.

"Oh, leave it will you." Kari said, knowing that it wasn't going to end well if he pushed it.

Rose whispered something in the Doctor's ear and he glared at Kari. "She is not your Princess." The Doctor said to Jack, still very much angry.

"Give it a bloody rest will you." Kari yelled. "If he wants to call me his Princess, then he can. What other people call me has nothing to do with you."

The Doctor grabbed Kari's hand again and dragged her out of the ward and into the corridor. "Bad mood?" He asked her, standing in front of her with his arms folded over his chest.

"Pretty bad mood, yes." Kari replied, leaning against the wall. "And before you ask, very early. It would appear everyone knows something that I don't."

"Right. Well come on then, let's get to work." The Doctor said, clapping his hands together before pulling her back into the ward.

"Everything okay?" Rose asked as they walked back in.

"Just peachy." Kari said, still sulking.

Jack sent her a concerned look but she just shook her head at him. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship." He insisted.

"What is happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Human DNA is being rewritten, by an idiot." The Doctor told her, keeping an eye on Kari.

"What do you mean?" Rose had no idea what was going on.

"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?" The Doctor looked over at Kari, hoping that she would help him out. She glared at him before looking away. He let out a sigh, knowing that she was set in her bad mood and was not going to help him.

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy." Kari's head turned as she looked at the patients. They were all starting to call for their mummy and sitting upright in their beds.

"What's happening?" It was clear that Rose was starting to get scared.

"I don't know." The Doctor told her honestly.

The patients started getting out of their beds and headed towards them. Kari let out a sigh, all she wanted to do was get some sleep. "Don't let them touch you." She warned as they were backed up towards a wall.

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked, fear etched on her face.

"You're looking at it." Kari said, feeling the Doctor grip her hand. No matter how much of a bad mood she was in, she wasn't going to push him away, so she gripped his hand back. She took a deep breath as the patients moved closer and closer to them, still calling one word, mummy.

* * *

**A/N: I know some of you are probably completely and utterly disgusted and shocked by what Kari done, but I promise I have a valid reason. Not that I can tell you yet, you're going to have to wait and find that out for yourself. **

**Remember to check the poll and keep on reviewing my lovely people. I have big plans for Kari, very big plans. **

**Love to you all!**

**Pippa.**


	11. The Doctor Dances Pt1

**Disclaimer: After a while I run out of things to say. **

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, follows/favourites. It really does mean a lot to me. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story. The poll is still going to be up for a few more days, remember to check it out. **

* * *

The four of them stood there, the patients approaching them, all calling for their mummy. Kari gave the Doctor a nudge with her shoulder, getting his attention. Then she nodded towards the patients, still glaring at him.

He let out a sigh and took a step forward, leaving Kari behind with the others. "Go to your room." He bellowed. "Go to your room." He ordered again, looking around the room. "I mean it, I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross." He was doing well at acting angry. "Go you your room!" He shouted as he pointed, indicating that he wanted them to go away in another direction.

After a pause, the patients all slowly began to shuffle back to their beds. Both Kari and the Doctor let out a sigh of relief. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words." The Doctor said, smiling away. Kari just kept on glaring at him, she was determined to push him to the limits.

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked once the Doctor was confident it was safe again.

"They're not." Kari told her, kneeling down beside her. "Those masks are flesh and bone."

"How was your con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked Jack, keeping a close eye on Kari.

"Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable and name a price. When he's put 50 per cent upfront… oops! German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con." Jack told them, sitting in a chair with his feet up on the desk.

The Doctor frowned at him. "Yeah. Perfect."

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it, though. But you've got to set your alarm for Volcano Day." Jack said with a laugh, earning a glare from everyone in the room. "Getting a hint of disapproval."

"Take a look around the room." The Doctor waved his arm around, making everyone look at the different people in the beds. "This is what your piece of harmless space junk did."

"It was a burnt out medical transporter, it was empty." Jack insisted.

Kari shook her head at him. "Told you, Jack. Highlight of your night." The Doctor glared at her, which she just returned.

"Rose, Kari…" The Doctor started.

"Are we getting out of here?" Rose asked, not feeling very comfortable in the hospital.

"We're going upstairs." Kari said, heading towards the door.

"I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one." Jack insisted as Rose joined Kari and the Doctor at the door. "I don't know what's happening here but I had nothing to do with it."

"You forgot to set your alarm clock." The Doctor said, glaring at Jack. "It's Volcano Day."

A siren started blaring and Kari let out a sigh. "What's that?" Rose asked.

"The all clear." Jack told her, seeming a little too relaxed.

"I wish." Kari and the Doctor said at the same time, causing him to grin at her. Kari had to hold herself from smiling back at him, she wasn't happy with him, she was not going to let him wriggle out of it and get back on her good side.

"Mr Spock?" Jack called as they ran past a staircase.

"Doctor?" Rose called, not knowing which way he or Kari went.

"You got a blaster?" The Doctor asked Jack, looking back down the stairs at them.

"Sure." Jack said, before heading up the stairs with Rose.

"That night your space junk landed, someone was hurt. This is where they were taken." The Doctor told him, standing outside a large and heavy looking metal door.

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Let's find out. Get it open." The Doctor ordered Jack to do.

Kari was leaning against the wall. She knew what was going to happen, and she was actually really rather bored.

"What's wrong with your screwdriver?" Rose asked quietly as Jack blasted the lock on the door.

"Nothing at all. He's just nosey." Kari said, pushing herself away from the wall.

"Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon factories of Villengard." The Doctor declared.

"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked in slight surprise.

"Once." The Doctor took the blaster from Jack and looked it over.

"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporised the lot." Jack told them.

"Like he said, once." Kari confirmed. "There's a banana grove there now."

"I like bananas, bananas are good." The Doctor said, smiling away and handing Jack back his blaster.

Kari let out a sigh and walked straight into the room ahead of everyone else. It had been trashed, the whole place was a complete mess. The large observation window had been smashed, the glass scattered all over the floor.

"What do you think?" The Doctor asked.

Jack looked around the room. "Something got out of here."

"Yeah. And?" The Doctor pressed, keeping an eye on Kari as she stood looking at the drawings on the wall.

"Something powerful, angry." Jack kept on looking around the room, taking in all the damage that had been done.

"It was a child. Which clearly explains the constant calling for mummy." Kari said as she walked over to the tape machine and turned it on.

"_Do you know where you are?_" The man on the recording asked.

"_Are you my mummy?_" It was a child.

"_Are you aware of what's around you? Can you… see?_"

"_Are you my mummy?_"

"_What do you want? Do you know what…_"

"_I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? I want my mummy._" The child demanded. "_Mummy? Mummy?_"

"Doctor, I've heard this voice before." Rose looked a little more scared than she had been before now.

"Me, too." The Doctor said.

"_Mummy?_"

"Always 'are you my mummy?' Like he doesn't know." Rose said. "Why doesn't he know?"

"_Are you there, mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Please mummy? Mummy?_"

"Doctor?" Rose looked at him in concern while Kari just stood there, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Can't you sense it?" The Doctor said, looking at Jack and Rose.

"Sense what?" Jack asked him in confusion.

"Come out of the walls. Can you feel it?" Kari said, actually feeling and understanding what the Doctor was talking about.

Jack and Rose look at each other. "Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"

"When he's stressed, he liked to insult species." Rose told Jack.

"Rose, I'm thinking."

"He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life-forms he's cleverer than." Rose told Jack nervously. The Doctor was deep in thought, and Kari was still stood there watching, waiting.

"There are these children. Living rough round the bombsites. They come out during air raids, looking for food." The Doctor explained.

"_Mummy, please._" Kari looked back at the tape recorder, it was almost time. She slowly walked and stood beside Jack, for some reason she felt a little safer with him there.

The Doctor frowned at her before looking back at Jack. "Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed."

"It was a med-ship, it was harmless." Jack protested.

"You keep saying. Harmless. Suppose one of them was affected. Altered."

"Altered how?" Rose asked.

"_I'm here._"

"It's afraid, terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet. But it will do." Kari told them, her eyes darting around the room. "It's got the power of a god and he just sent it to its room." She pointed at the Doctor.

"_I'm here! Can't you see me?_"

"What's that noise?" Rose asked looking around the room, hearing some kind of rattling noise.

"End of the tape." Kari told her calmly. "It ran out about 30 seconds ago."

"_I'm here now! Can't you see me?_"

"The Doctor sent it to its room. This is its room." Kari said, letting her eyes fall on the child standing by the tape recorder. The Doctor spun around to look at him as well.

"Are you my mummy?" The child asked.

"Okay, on my signal, make for the door." Jack said, getting ready to pull out his blaster and aim it at the door. "Now!" He shouted, only just noticing that he was holding a banana.

Kari looked at the Doctor who grinned madly at her before pulling out Jack's blaster and pointing it at the wall, leaving a square hold for them to escape through. "Go, now, don't drop the banana." The Doctor called, pushing Kari ahead of him.

"Why not?" Jack asked curiously.

"Good source of potassium." Kari said, leaning against the wall of the corridor and taking the banana from Jack. She watched as the Doctor climbed through the hole.

"Give me that!" Jack called, snatching his blaster back and closing the hole in the wall. "Digital rewind. Nice switch." Jack said, as Kari threw the banana back to the Doctor, giving him a slight smile.

"It's from the groves of Villengard, thought it was appropriate." The Doctor said, holding onto his banana.

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard? And you did that?" Jack questioned.

"Bananas are good. And it wasn't me, it was Kari." The Doctor said, beaming away at her.

Kari rolled her eyes at him. "Spoilers." She was about to say something else when there was a thumping on the wall in front of them. The child was trying to break through and get to them.

"Doctor." Rose cried, taking a step back to get as far away from the wall as possible.

"Come on." He said, grabbing hold of Kari's hand and running along the corridor with her right next to him. Kari just let out a sigh, she should have known he was going to drag her along with him, he always did.

"Okay, problem one, this way is blocked." Kari said, turning around and dragging the Doctor back the way they had just come. Jack and Rose now took the lead, he had his blaster still in his hand.

"And there's problem number two." Kari said, as the other way was also blocked by the patients.

"It's keeping us here till it can get at us." The Doctor said, squeezing Kari's hand tightly.

"It's controlling them?" Jack asked, keeping his blaster aimed at the patients.

"Nah, it is them. It's every living thing in this hospital." Kari said, grinning away.

The Doctor frowned at her. "What you smiling about?"

"Me? Nothing. Nothing at all." It was the first time the Doctor had actually seen her smiling since he first saw her there. "Oh this is going to be fun." She mumbled, but not quietly enough for the Doctor to not hear her.

"All knowing?" He asked her, Kari just nodded at him, a smug grin on her face.

They were brought back to reality by another loud bang on the wall in front of them. "Okay, this can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, what you got?" Jack asked.

"I've got a sonic…" He pulled out his screwdriver and looked down at it. "Er, oh, never mind." He said, pushing Kari back so that she was next to Rose and in between Jack and himself.

"What?" Jack asked again.

"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that." The Doctor said, making Kari giggle.

"Disrupter? Cannon? What?" Jack asked, getting more and more frustrated.

"It's sonic. Totally sonic! I am soniced up"

"A sonic what?" Jack demanded to know.

"Screwdriver!" The Doctor shouted, making Kari burst out laughing. "Oh, and here she goes. Kari, not the time." He said, trying his best to keep a serious face on.

Suddenly the wall gave way and the child began to step through the hole. Kari rolled her eyes and grabbed hold of Jack's hands and his blaster. "Going down!" She cried, before pointing it at the floor and all of them falling through the hole beneath them.

They all landed on the floor in the ward below them. Jack was quick to use the digital rewind and repair the hole in the ceiling. Kari had been the only one to land on her feet, and that just set off her giggles again.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked as they all got themselves off the floor.

"Could've used a warning." The Doctor said, frowning at Kari.

"Oh, the gratitude. I did warn you. I shouted 'going down'. Is that not a warning?" Kari asked him, folding her arms across her chest as she finally stopped giggling.

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked, looking at the Doctor.

"He does." Kari said, nodding towards the Doctor while Rose went off to look for the light switch.

"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ooh, this could be a little more sonic?" Jack asked, clearly not impressed with the Doctor's device.

"What, you've never been bored?" The Doctor asked, his eyes shifting from Jack to Kari. "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"

"If you two have quite finished, we have bigger issues to deal with than why the Doctor has a sonic screwdriver." Kari said as Rose finally found the light switch.

As the lights came on, the patients in the beds all sat up and again called for mummy.

"Door." Jack called, rushing towards it. Kari was quickly behind him, knowing what was to come. She watched as Jack tried to use the blaster to get through but nothing happened. "Damn it. It's the special features. They really drain the battery." Jack moaned.

"The battery?" Rose asked, as Kari snatched the Doctor's screwdriver from him and opened the door herself. "That's so lame." She told Jack as Kari locked the door with the sonic screwdriver.

"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory." Jack moaned, shaking his head at Kari.

"Hey, I haven't actually done that yet. But it's now at the top of my to do list." Kari warned him. Jack put his hands up in defence.

"Oh, I know. First day I met them, they blew up my job. That's practically how they communicate." Rose told him with a smile.

Kari turned to Rose, frowning at her. "Rose, spoilers." She said firmly. "God, you lot are awful at filling me in on my future." Kari tossed the screwdriver back to the Doctor so he could make sure the door was locked properly.

"You know, I really am getting sick of hearing that word." The Doctor moaned, setting Kari off giggling again. "And you're giggles."

Kari glared at him. "Oh, I am definitely going to annoy you even more in the future with it now. And you only have yourself to blame for it." Her bad mood had started to fade, but now, it was slowly creeping back.

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit." The Doctor said, trying his best to ignore the glare that was burning the back of his head from Kari.

"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack exclaimed.

"Well, it's got to find us first." Kari said, letting out a sigh and leaning back against the wall.

"Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets." The Doctor cried, looking around the room.

"Well, I've got a banana, and in a pinch you could put up some shelves." Jack said sarcastically, making Kari grin at him, which he returned a wink to.

"Window." The Doctor said, heading straight towards it.

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories. So, you can go first."

"And no other exits." Rose pointed out.

"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack said, sitting down in a wheelchair.

"So where did you pick this one up, then?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"She didn't, I did." Kari said, earning a fierce glare from the Doctor which she completely ignored.

"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack said before turning to look at Kari. "And then my Princess just appears out of nowhere on my ship. How was I meant to resist?" He winked at Kari, and she let out a little giggle.

"Oh, Jack. You are such a flirt. I'm not sure how the universe has survived so long with you sauntering around in it." Kari said, noticing the annoyed look on the Doctor's face.

"And you wouldn't have me any other way now would you?" Jack replied cheekily.

The Doctor had clearly had enough of the way Kari was acting with Jack. "Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" He asked, looking out of the window.

"Yeah, Jack just disappeared." Kari said, having not moved from her spot by the wall.

"Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" Rose asked, looking slightly disappointed.

"You're not wrong there, Rose." Kari said, trying to annoy the Doctor even more.

"I'm making an effort not to be insulted." The Doctor said, frowning at the girls.

"I mean, men." Rose added, trying not to make the Doctor feel so bad.

"Okay, thanks, that really helped." The Doctor said, still very much annoyed.

All of a sudden the radio speaker crackled into life, surprising everyone but Kari. "_Kari? Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there._"

"How're you speaking to us?" The Doctor asked.

"Om-Com." Kari and Jack said at the same time.

"_I can call anything with a speaking grill._"

"Now there's a coincidence, eh Doctor?" Kari said, finally letting a smile form on her face again.

"_What is?_" Jack asked.

"The child can Om-Com, too." The Doctor explained.

"He can?" Rose asked in shock. She had no idea what had happened when she had been passed out on Jack's ship.

"Anything with a speaker grill. And that would include the TARDIS phone." Kari told her, looking a little smug for saying it before the Doctor did. But the Doctor just smiled at her, glad that she wasn't so annoyed with him anymore.

"What, you mean the child can phone us?" There was a hint of fear in Rose's voice now.

"_And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you._" The child's voice came through the speaker.

"_Doctor, can you hear that?_" Jack called, also hearing the child on his ship.

"Loud and clear."

"_I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do._" Jack said, before we heard the child calling again, telling them he was coming to find his mummy. "_Remember this one, Kari?_" Jack asked, as Moonlight Serenade started playing through the speaker.

Kari let a grin spread across the whole of her face. "Aw, Jack remembers." She said, more to herself than anyone else. She looked up and saw a questioning look on the Doctor's face while Rose was standing there looking rather uncomfortable. "Oh, it's… our song." Kari mumbled.

"Oh, so you and him have a song now do you?" The Doctor asked her, clearly not impressed with what he was finding out.

"Actually, yes. We do. Now, do you have a problem with that?" Kari said angrily.

She could see the frustration on the Doctor's face. It was like he wanted to say something, but he knew that he couldn't, that it wasn't the right time. "One day, you're going to understand why I

am not happy with you. " He eventually said, wagging a finger in front of Kari's face.

She let out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Too early, I know. Whatever, I am so sick and tired of hearing that all the time. The only person here who isn't hiding something from me, is Jack. It's actually the other way around."

They pair stood there, staring at each other, neither one of them wanting to back down. They were finally interrupted by Rose. "You don't think he's coming back, do you?" She asked the Doctor.

"Wouldn't bet my life." He answered, watching Kari out of the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you trust him?" Rose wondered.

The Doctor glared at Kari, she let out a sigh and turned away from him. She had never thought things with this Doctor was going to be so awkward, and she couldn't think of a way to make it any easier. They both seemed to just be clashing all the time at the moment. It was possible that it was all down to the fact that Kari had been in such a bad mood earlier, or maybe it was something more.

"Why do you?" He asked Rose, finally looking away from Kari.

"He saved my life. Bloke wise, that's up there with flossing. I trust him because he's like you." Rose said, getting Kari to snigger a little. "Except with… dancing." Kari frowned at Rose, there was something else they were hiding from her, she was sure of it.

"You just assume that I don't dance. Tell her that I dance, Kari." Kari just glared at him, no, she was not going to help him out of this one.

"What, are you telling me you do dance?" Rose asked,

The Doctor frowned at her, after quickly glancing at Kari. "Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced."

"You?" Rose asked in surprise, not fully believing the Doctor.

"Problem?"

"Doesn't the universe implode or something if you dance?" Kari snorted a little at Rose's comment. All she could think about was that terrible dance that he would be doing in his eleventh regeneration.

Both the Doctor and Rose looked at her. "Something amusing you, Kari?" He asked her.

"Oh, don't mind me. I was just thinking of someone else, and their ridicules dancing." She let out a few more giggles. "Oh, I can't wait until the wedding. That really is going to be fun."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What wedding?"

Kari glared at him. "Not a wedding you need to be concerned about." She couldn't explain why she kept snapping at him so much. She had never acted this way with the other versions of the Doctor, so why was she so spiteful and nasty to him?

He turned away from her and brought his attention back to Rose. "Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast." Kari gave another snort but both the Doctor and Rose ignored her.

"You've got the moves? Show me your moves?" Rose said, turning the music up.

"Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete." The Doctor protested. Ever since Jack had left he had been using his screwdriver on the wall, trying to loosen the bars on the window.

"Jack'll be back. He'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances." Rose held out her hands, waiting for the Doctor to take them while Kari just made herself comfy in the wheelchair that was now empty.

"Barrage balloon?" The Doctor asked, inspecting Rose's hands.

"What?"

"You were hanging from a barrage balloon." The way he said it, was more of a statement than a question.

"Oh, yeah. About two minutes after you left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air raid. Union Jack all over my chest." Rose told him.

"I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy friendly." The Doctor told her, smirking at Kari.

"Is this you dancing?" Kari asked, as he kept inspecting Rose's hands. "Because I've got notes."

He rolled his eyes at her before turning his attention back to Rose. "Hanging from a rope, thousands of feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise."

"Yeah, well, Captain Jack fixed me up." Rose said as the Doctor let go of her hands and she pretended to inspect her nails.

"Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?" The Doctor didn't seem happy that even Rose seemed to be falling for the con man's charms.

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain." Kari told him, trying to find more ways to annoy the Doctor.

"He's not really a Captain, Kari." The Doctor said, turning to face her.

"Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy. You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them." Kari said, as Rose forced the Doctor to dance with her.

"If he ever was a Captain, he's been defrocked." The Doctor said, not paying any attention to his surroundings. Kari, on the other hand, was fully prepared and ready for it.

"Yeah? Shame I missed that." Rose said, as Kari moved away from the dancing couple.

"Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock." Jack said, as Kari went and stood by where he was sitting in the captain's chair. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet." Kari laughed a little and Jack gave her a wink. "Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."

"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols. Maybe you should remember who's ship it is." The Doctor said, moving to stand by Kari.

"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Not a gorgeous as my Princess." Jack grinned at Kari, causing the Doctor to frown. Kari could have sworn she saw a flash of anger for a moment. "Like I told her, be back in five minutes." He then ducked under the console and got to work.

"This is a Chula ship." The Doctor stated, looking around from where he was standing.

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous." Kari told him, knowing that Jack was busy and it was easier for her to answer for him.

As Kari predicted, the Doctor snapped his fingers and a golden swarm surrounded his hands.

"They're what fixed my hands up. Kari called them, er…" Rose looked at Kari for help.

"Nanogenes." She said, watching the Doctor closely.

"Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." He smiled at Kari, he knew he needed to talk to her and find out why she was being so moody with him.

"Jack, once you've got the nav-com back online, we're going to need to see your space junk." Kari said politely.

"Anything for you, Princess. Make yourself comfy." He called as he carried on working under the console.

* * *

**A/N: And there is another chapter down. Like I said, the poll is still running on my profile as to when Kari should find out this big secret that everyone seems to know about. **

**Also, don't forget to review and tell me what you think. **  
**Tipper dehavilland, I don't blame you for wanting to hit her on the head. I hope this chapter made you want to hit her some more. You're going to wish she was real so you could strangle her by the time I'm through. **

**As alway, I love you all because you are all os wonderful. Remember to review, if you want to. Or you can always PM me, I don't mind that. Someone also told me that SnailMail still exists, although I'm not too sure where, but it couldn't hurt to try, right?**

**Pippa.**


	12. The Doctor Dances Pt2

**Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. **

**A/N: I am really sorry for the seriously late update. Been trying to get on with my Uni work. But enough of that, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

Kari went and sat herself down on the bed that Rose had been passed out on earlier. As expected, the Doctor followed her and sat down beside her.

"So, something tells me that you are still in a bad mood. Especially with me." The Doctor was nervous, and Kari could sense it.

"Yes, I am." Kari snapped. "Sorry. Been a rough week or so."

"Want to tell me about it?" He asked, putting an arm around her, hoping that she would calm down and relax a little with him.

"Where do you want me to start? It's been pretty much nonstop running with you. Before I ended up here, I was hoping to get some sleep, but that never happened. Struggling to remember when I actually did last sleep properly." She told him, leaning into his hold a little.

"What else?" Kari just looked at him blankly. "I know you, Kari, and I know there is more to it than what you're telling me."

She let out a sigh. "I'm just so fed up with everyone knowing something that I don't. I thought you were going to tell me, and this is future you, by the way, but you changed your mind."

"But I do tell you. In the future, I will tell you." He promised her. "I know I do, because you told me."

"And until then I have to keep going around, not knowing. I mean, I know a lot of things, but this seems to be something rather big, something that is altering the timelines that I know." She could feel the tears building in her eyes. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, get some rest and forget everything that was going on.

"I'm sorry. I keep forgetting how early this is for you." He said, holding her a little tighter.

"Can… Can I ask you something?" Kari said nervously.

"Course you can."

Kari bit her lip, trying to find the best way to ask him. "You and Rose… what's going on there?"

The Doctor frowned at her before letting out a sigh. "This is how I know it's too early. There is nothing going on with Rose. You and her are like sisters, always plotting against me. But I can promise you, there is nothing between me and Rose." He insisted.

His answer just made Kari even more confused and worried. She knew he was meant to be with Rose, just as later he would be with River, but from what he was saying now, and what River told her back on the Byzantium, that wasn't right.

"But do you want there to be something with Rose?" Kari asked him quietly. She didn't want to admit it, but she was afraid of his answer. If he said no, then she knew her being there had seriously altered the timelines she knew. And if he said yes, well she didn't actually want to think about it.

"Kari, why are you even asking me that? I thought you knew me?" She didn't answer him, she just kept her gaze focused on the ground. "Kari, there has only ever been one person for me, and there only ever will be."

She didn't know what to think of that. It wasn't exactly an answer, and she couldn't work anything out from it. She knew she was fighting a losing battle with him now, he wasn't going to give anything away to her.

"Now, are you going to keep being in a mood with me or are you going to cheer up?" The Doctor asked her, noticing her silence.

"Well, I suppose, since this will soon be over, I might as well at least try to be nice to you." Kari said, nudging him a little.

The Doctor smiled at her. "That's more like it."

They both drew their attention to the conversation Rose and Jack were having. "So, you used to be a Time Agent, now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked.

"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money." Jack told her, still working away.

"For what?"

"Woke up one day when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back." Jack told her.

"They stole your memories?" Rose asked in disbelief.

Jack let out a sigh. "Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me." He nodded towards the Doctor. "And for all I know, he's right not to."

"Oi, Harkness." Kari called, getting his and the others attention. "Just for future reference, I trust you, even if no one else does."

Jack smiled at her, he knew she was being truthful and that he could trust her as well. "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?" He asked, as the computer on the console started bleeping.

Kari got up from the bed and stood next to Jack as he piloted the ship across London. He glanced over at her and gave her a smile. "Thanks. For trusting me." He said quietly.

"No need to thank me. Like I said, I know your future, going from that, I think it's safe for me to trust you." Kari was smiling away at him.

"You know, I'm really looking forward to meeting you in the future." Jack told her.

"Well of course you are. Why wouldn't you? I'm looking forward to it as well." She said, not really thinking about what was coming out of her mouth.

Jack frowned at her. "What do you mean? You're looking forward to it as well? I thought you were from my future?"

Kari put a hand to her face and let out a sigh. "It's seriously complicated. My timeline isn't straight, I just randomly pop up whenever and wherever. This is the first time I'm meeting you, but I know what happens in your future." She explained to Jack, as best she could.

"Okay. That does sound complicated."

Kari let out a little laugh. "Yeah, it really is. I'm still struggling to understand half of it myself." She let her eyes wander so that she was gazing out of the window. "Never thought I'd see this for real. I don't know if I should be amazed or scared." She admitted to Jack.

"No need to be scared while I'm around, Princess." Jack said, flashing Kari a huge grin. "I'll look after you."

"Oh, I bet you will, Jack. You are such a flirt." She whacked him lightly on the arm before turning around to look at the Doctor.

Rose was now sitting down next to him, and they were whispering to each other. It looked like they were having a very serious conversation. Kari watched them for a few more moments before they spotted her looking. They immediately stopped talking and smiled at Kari.

"Talking about me again?" Kari asked, folding her arms across her chest. The both shifted a little under her stare. "I shall take that as a yes then. Can I also assume that it's something I will find out about in the future?"

"Yes." The Doctor said, grinning at her.

"Well, we're here. Shall we?" Jack asked, before teleporting them all out from his ship.

The group marched through Limehouse Green station to get closer to the bomb site. For the first time, Kari was holding the Doctor's hand happily and not being dragged around. She had a small smile on her face, which the Doctor had noticed.

"There it is. Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important." Jack said, looking down at the guards around the bomb site entrance.

"We've got to get past him."

"Good job at pointing out the obvious, Doctor." Kari said, rolling her eyes.

"Are the words 'distract the guard' heading in my general direction?" Rose asked, making Kari laugh a little. Jack also had smirk on his face.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea, Rose." Kari said, resting a hand on her friends arm.

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Rose protested.

"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him." Jack said before starting to walk towards the bomb site. "Don't wait up." He said, sending Kari a wink.

"Relax, he's a 51st century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to… dancing." Kari told Rose, grinning away.

"How flexible?"

The Doctor looked at Rose with a slight grin as well. "Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning?"

Kari and the Doctor looked at each other, both with the same look in their eyes. "So many species, so little time." They both said together, sending them off into a small fit of laughter.

"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life and… and…"

"Dance." Kari and the Doctor said in unison again. They just broke out in more laughter.

"Oh, Doctor. Did you have to set her off?" Rose moaned.

"Stop being so miserable, Rose." Kari said in between her laughs. Her laughing ceased sharply when she looked over at Jack standing with Algy. "And that's our cue." She called, dragging the Doctor down towards the bomb site entrance.

They made it to Jack just as Algy completely transformed. His face turned into a gas mask. "Stay back!" Kari shouted, holding her arms out to make the other guards move away.

"You men, stay away." She heard Jack shout.

"The effect's become airborne, accelerating." The Doctor was getting more and more worried now. It didn't help with the air raid siren started blaring.

"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked in a panic.

"Nothing at all." Kari told her. "And here come the Germans."

"All we need." Rose said, started to feel slightly nervous as well. "Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" She asked Jack.

"Never mind about that. If the contaminants airborne now, there's hours left." The Doctor told them, looking around the site.

"For what?" Jack asked in confusions.

"Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race." Kari told him before looking over to one of the large storage sheds. "And can anyone else here singing?" She asked before running off, the Doctor right behind her.

The Doctor managed to dart past her and open the wooden door. Inside there was a girl, singing to someone who now had a gas mask fused to their face. The Doctor signalled for her to keep singing as he slowly crept forward, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. A few seconds later she was free from the handcuffs keeping her attached to the table and they were all slowly walking back outside.

"You're safe now, Nancy." Kari told her, leading her over to the crashed space junk.

Jack and the Doctor threw back the cover that had been put over the junk. "You see? Just an ambulance." Jack said, walking around it and to the control panel.

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked in shock.

"It's hard to explain. It's from another world." Rose explained to her, her arm around the young woman.

"They've been trying to get in." Jack said, working on the keypad.

"Of course they have, Jack. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon." Kari told him, standing by him and the Doctor.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." The keypad he had been working on sparked and an alarm started going off. "Didn't happen last time."

"Jack, it hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols." Kari told him. She was going to stay calm, because she knew how the day was going to end.

"Doctor, what is that?" Rose asked, the alarm still blaring from the ship. Then she spotted gas mask people approaching from the hospital. "Doctor!"

"Captain, secure those gates!" The Doctor ordered.

"Why?"

Kari glared at him. "Just do it." She growled, making him move quickly. "Nancy, you cut the fence right?" Nancy nodded as Kari pulled the Doctor sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. "Show Rose. Setting 2428-D. Reattaches barbed wire. Now shift!"

Once they were both gone she turned to the Doctor. "Right, let's get this over with. Have you worked out what was in there yet?" Kari asked, nodding to the ship.

"I've got an idea. I take it you already know?" Kari nodded at him. "You and your all knowing power."

"You'd be completely lost without me, and you know that." She told him, a smug grin on her face.

"I'd have a much more peaceful life, more like." Kari glared at him and immediately he relented. "Oh, all right. My life would be a lot more boring without you in it." He said, hugging her.

Jack came rushing back over and got straight to work with trying to open the ambulance again. Soon enough he had it open. "It's empty. Look at it." Rose and Nancy also returned.

"What do you expect from a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops?" The Doctor asked sarcastically. "Rose?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do." Kari said, turning her hands over and showing Rose the palms of her hands, hoping she would get the message.

Rose's eyes widened. "Nanogenes!" Kari beamed at her proudly.

"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species." The Doctor spat.

"Oh, God." Jack said in realisation of what he had caused. Kari looked at him sadly, she knew he never meant for any of this to happen, and she knows he proves himself later.

"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogene escape. Billions upon billions of them. Ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world." The Doctor explained to everyone.

"But what they find first is a dead child. Probably killed earlier that night. And wearing a gas mask." Kari added, looking at Nancy.

"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Roes wondered.

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never see a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like." The Doctor glared at Jack, it was going to take a lot for him to be able to forgive the man.

"All they've got is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. And then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cause you see, now they thing they know what people should look like. And it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for it mother. And nothing in the world can stop it!"

"I didn't know." Jack called in protest.

"I know you didn't, Jack." Kari said, trying to help ease his guilt. "But, maybe you should be a bit more careful with space junk. You know, make sure it really is junk. Or, better still, turn over a new leaf and stop being a con man."

He let out a sigh as the Doctor worked on the ship, trying to stop the alarm. "Yeah, perhaps you're right."

"Oh, I know I'm right. You're better than this, Jack Harkness. Remember that." Kari told him, giving him her best smile.

"It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?" Rose asked, still in a bit of a panic.

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol." The Doctor told her.

"But the gas mask people aren't troops." Rose protested.

"They are now." Kari told her. "This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you."

"That's why the child is so strong? Why it could do that phoning thing?" Rose asked.

"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical 4 year old. Just looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them." Kari said, watching Nancy the whole time.

The gas mask people had been slowly advancing on them, surrounding them. "Why aren't they attacking?" Jack asked, noticing their now lack of movement.

"Good little soldiers. Waiting for their commander." The Doctor told him.

Jack's eyes widened. "The child?"

"Jamie." Kari and Nancy said together.

"What?" Jack asked in confusion, he was also a little freaked out by the way Kari and Nancy spoke at the same time.

"Not the child. Jamie." Nancy told him, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

Rose looked around them nervously. "So, how long until the bomb falls?"

"Any second." Jack answered nervously.

"What's the matter, Captain? A bit close to the volcano for you?" the doctor asked him bitterly.

"He's just a little boy." Nancy cried. "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."

"I know." Kari said softly. "There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."

"So what're we going to do?" Rose asked, the fear rising inside her even more. The bomb was getting closer, as was the child and the gas mask army.

"I don't know." The Doctor said, looking to Kari for help. She just bit her lip and looked down at the ground.

"It's all my fault." Nancy said, tears starting to stream from her eyes. "It's all my fault."

The Doctor looked at her. "How can it be you…"

The patients from the hospital were beginning to call for their mummy again. Kari couldn't take it anymore and decided she was going to end it. "Nancy, what age are you? 20, 21? Older then you look, yeah?" She asked her softly.

"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds." Jack said, panicking.

"You can teleport us out." Rose suggested.

"Not us. The nav-com's back online and it's going to take too long to override the protocols." Kari said, not taking her eyes off Nancy.

"So, it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do." The Doctor told him. Kari risked a quick look at Jack out of the corner of her eye. He was looking at her just before he teleported back to his ship.

She shook her head and put all her attention back on Nancy. "5 years ago, you'd have been, what? 15? 16? Old enough to give birth anyway. He wasn't your brother was he?"

The tears were flowing freely now, yet she wasn't making a sound. "So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him." Kari said, just as the gates opened and Jamie stood there.

"Are you my mummy?"

"He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He is never going to stop." Kari told her, holding both of her hands. "Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."

Nancy nodded at Kari and walked over to the little boy standing there, calling for his mummy. "Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?" He asked.

"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy." Nancy told him, kneeling in front of him.

"Mummy?"

"I'm here." Nancy told him. All he kept doing was calling for his mummy.

"He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left." The Doctor sighed.

Kari slipped her hand into his. "Oh, don't give up hope just yet. We're still alive, there's still hope." The Doctor smiled at her, glad to see that she still had hope.

"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She said, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him in a tight hug. That's when a golden light surrounded them, the swarm of nanogenes.

"What's happening? It's changing her, we should…" Kari held her arm out and stopped Rose for moving forward any more.

"Shush. Come on, please. Come on, you cleaver little nanogenes. Figure it out. The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out." The Doctor pleaded, gripping Kari's hand tighter and tighter.

"What's happening?" Rose asked, not following what the Doctor was saying.

"Recognising the same DNA." Kari whispered, watching as Nancy fell to her knees and let go of Jamie.

The Doctor let go of Kari and rushed over to the little boy. "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." He said, before attempting to take the gas mask off. It came off with ease. "Ha ha! Welcome back. 20 years till pop music. You're going to love it." He said, picking the boy up.

"What happened?" Nancy asked, looking at Jamie.

"The nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you, because you changed them. Mother knows best." Kari said, having joined where they were all standing.

"Doctor, that bomb." Rose exclaimed, only just remembering about it.

"Taken care of it."

Rose looked at him in confusion. "How?"

"Psychology." He said, just as the bomb started propelling towards them.

There was a bright light and suddenly Jack was sitting on top of the bomb. "Doctor!"

The Doctor looked at him, beaming away. "Good lad."

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis, but it won't last long." Jack called from where he was hanging in the air on the bomb.

"Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?" The Doctor asked him.

"Rose?" She looked up at Jack. "Goodbye."

"Kari?" Jack called, making her look up at him. "Guess I'll never be the man you knew."

"Oh, shut up, Jack. I'll see you again." She called up to him. "It's not that easy to get rid of you, trust me." She winked at him.

Jack let out a small laugh. "Goodbye, Princess." He said, before both he and the bomb disappeared.

She turned her attention back to the Doctor. "Right, come on you. Time to give these nanogenes a software patch." She watched as the Doctor done as she told him, all the time she was running through what Jack would now be going through on his ship.

"Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives." The Doctor cried, watching as all the patients and everyone else who was affected turn back to their human selves.

Kari walked away a little as the Doctor talked to Dr Constantine. She wasn't interested in their conversation. All she could think about was Jack, and what he was now doing. She was playing it all in her head, every moment of it.

"Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state." The Doctor called before turning back to the ship with the alarm still blaring. "Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"Usually the first in line." Kari and Rose said together, making them both laugh.

"Do you know how annoying it is when you do that?" The Doctor said, pretending to be annoyed.

"Oh, you love it really." Kari said, grabbing hold of his hand again. "Come on then, TARDIS!" She said, taking Rose's hand as well and dragging them both back as fast as she could.

Once they were inside the Doctor started darting around the console. "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Dr Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!" He exclaimed.

"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." Rose said happily.

"And who says he's not?" Kari said, grinning away. So far, her head wasn't hurting, she was going to be staying for a little bit longer it seemed.

"Red bicycle when you were twelve." The Doctor added, stunning Rose. "And everybody lives, Rose. Everybody lives. I need more days like this."

Rose looked at Kari, her eyes seemed to be glazed over. "Doctor…"

"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire." He said, still on a high.

"What about Jack? Why'd he said goodbye?" Rose asked him, hoping that his answer wasn't what she was thinking.

Kari shook her head and clapped her hands together. "Can't get rid of Captain Harkness that easily." She said, smiling away.

"Kari, time can be rewr…" The Doctor started, but Kari was quick to interrupt him.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Doctor." She spat at him. "We are going to save Jack."

"Kari, I'm sorry. It's too late. We can't." He told her softly.

"Doctor, we are going to get him. The TARDIS is going to materialise on his ship, and he is going to walk right in here. Alive and well." She told him firmly as she walked up to the console.

"It's too late. We can't do anything. I'm sorry, Kari."

Kari turned and glared at him, her eyes burning brightly gold. "If you won't save him then I will." She said, before dashing around the console and pulling the final lever.

The Doctor and Rose just stood there in shock as the TARDIS engines started up. "When did you learn to fly the TARDIS?" The Doctor finally asked her as the engines stopped.

"About a minute ago." She told him, grabbing something from below the console before running to the doors. Before she reached them, Moonlight Serenade started playing in the TARDIS. "Rose, teach him how to dance. I'll be back in a moment."

Kari pulled the door open and let the sound of the music float through Jack's ship. He turned and faced her, confusion all over his face. "What is that? A martini? Oh, I think I have something much better." She pulled the bottle from behind her. "Champagne?"

Jack got up from his chair and rushed over to her. "You've got good taste." He said, inspecting the bottle.

"Don't you know it." She winked at him before heading back inside the TARDIS. "Well, hurry up then." She called, making him follow her inside.

"Okay. And right and turn. Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half nelson." Rose exclaimed.

Kari couldn't help but laugh. "Not easy trying to teach him how to dance, is it Rose?"

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." The Doctor said before looking at Jack. "Close the door, will you. Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught." Jack quickly shut the door and Kari poured out the champagne.

"Welcome to the TARDIS." She said, handing a glass to Jack.

"Much bigger on the inside." He commented, looking around the room.

"You'd better be." The Doctor called from where Rose was still trying and failing to get him to dance.

"Best thing to do, ignore him. I do it all the time." Kari told him, rising her glass up. Jack took the hint and knocked his against hers.

"Rose, I've just remembered." The Doctor called, making Rose turn to stare at him. "I can dance. I can dance!" He cried as the music changed to something more upbeat.

Kari and Jack watched as Rose and the Doctor danced. "Told you it wasn't that easy to get rid of you." Kari said, leaning against the railing.

"Know from experience do you?" Jack asked, watching her closely.

"Well, obviously. Oh, the things I know. But, I am not going to tell you any of them. I'm going to make you suffer and have to live through it all." She was grinning away. Her head still wasn't hurting, and to make things even better for her, she now knew how to fly the TARDIS.

She was finally feeling more relaxed and comfortable. She knew she had started off on the wrong foot with the Doctor, and she knew that she would have to apologise for it later, but right now, everything was fine.

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**A/N: Again, sorry for how long it has been since updating. Anyway, the poll is still going to be open for only a few more days. So if you haven't checked it out, please do. **

**As always, review if you want to, or PM me. I always like to hear your thoughts and opinions (Just don't make me cry too much). **

**A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited/followed, it really does mean a lot. **

**Pippa.**


	13. Make or Break

**A/N: I know, I am really sorry. Thing's have been mad, and not so great. I apologise now for any spelling or grammatical errors. I've kept you waiting long enough so may have missed some things. **

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The Doctor, Jack and Kari were all sitting around the table in the kitchen. Rose had gone to bed some time ago and the three of them had been sitting there chatting the whole time. The Doctor and Kari had explained to Jack how her life seemed to work. They told him how she randomly jumps from one place to another, visiting the Doctor in the past and the future.

"Sounds like you lead a rather action packed life." Jack said as he leaned back in his chair.

Kari smiled at him. "More action than my body can cope with some times."

"Off to bed with you then." The Doctor ordered her. "Since it looks like you're staying for a little longer, you may as well head off to your room."

She let out a sigh and got up from her chair. "Yeah, fine." She said, as the other two both stood up as well. "Night, Jack." Kari said, hugging him tightly.

"Night, Princess." Jack said, kissing her hair before letting her go.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes before pulling Kari towards him. "Sleep well, and I really hope you're still here when you wake up." He whispered to her.

Kari let a smile spread across her face. "Yeah, so do I." He let her go and she headed for the door. She pulled it open but then paused. "Um, I have a slight problem."

The Doctor frowned at her. "What's that?"

"I… um… can't remember where my room is. I've only ever been there twice, and that was in the future." She told him quietly.

"Come on then." The Doctor called, grabbing hold of Kari's hand. "I'll show you where it is. Back in a bit, Jack."

The Doctor led her out of the kitchen and down the corridors. "Sorry about today." Kari mumbled after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's fine. I've seen you in worse moods so I knew you would get over it." He said, squeezing her hand.

Kari thought back and remembered something that Jack had said to her back on his ship, when she first arrived. "My eyes glow when I'm angry. Why?"

"You know what? I have no idea. I've seen it happen enough times to know what to do when you're in that kind of mood. I just let you get on with it. At least I have a way of knowing when you're angry."

Kari rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, well that's helpful. So that's yet another thing that we don't have an explanation for." She muttered.

"Well, here you go. Try not to forget where it is." He said, stopping at a blue, wooden door.

"Thanks. I'll try my best to remember for next time. Whenever that may be." Kari told him, feeling the tiredness wash over her.

"I'm sure if you asked the TARDIS nicely, she will help you find it. Anyway, you really should get some sleep." The Doctor said, seeming a little nervous from the way he was standing.

"Um, yeah, I should. Thanks, Doctor." Kari said, feeling a little awkward herself. She pulled her gaze up and looked at the Doctor before leaping at him and hugging him tightly. A smile spread across his face as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Go on, off you go." The Doctor said, pushing her away and towards her door.

"Night, Doctor. I really hope I get to see you when I wake up." She told him, putting her hand on the door handle. He just smiled at her and waited for her to disappear into her room. After one last look at the Doctor Kari opened the door and stepped through it.

She closed the door behind her and looked around the room. It looked exactly how she had left it the day they met Martha Jones. Including her laptop sitting on the writing desk. She hadn't really noticed it before, but now she had questions. She quickly pulled the door open and was surprised to see the Doctor still standing there, grinning at her.

"Everything alright?" He asked her, not letting that stupid grin he was wearing fade.

"Not exactly. Care to explain? The room looks exactly the same as I last left it… in the future. Including all my… trinkets." She wasn't going to tell him she had a laptop, it was only the Doctor way in the future that knew about that.

"Well, since your timeline is so complicated, and as our TARDIS is so clever, you're room relates to you." Kari just stared at him blankly, not following a word of what he was saying. The Doctor let out a sigh. "Your room is on your timeline. Which means only you can go in there, until the time where we meet and are both at the same point."

Kari frowned at him, still trying to work out what he was telling her. "So, what you're saying, is that my room basically follows me around when I jump?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, you had to put it like that didn't you?" He moaned. "But yes, that's pretty much how it works."

Kari smiled at him. "Okay. Thanks, I guess that makes sense. Well, night, again." Kari said, giving him a quick hug. The Doctor gave her a kiss on the cheek before letting her go and smiling at her as she went back into her room.

The first thing Kari done was to grab her laptop and take it over to the bed with her. As she sat down she felt something hanging around her. She realised she still had the bag River had given her slung across her body. She quickly took it off and pulled out the neatly wrapped present that was inside it.

There was a note attached to it and Kari carefully opened it.

_To my Darling Kari. Happy Birthday. I know you are going to love it. But don't let him see it just yet. There's a time and a place for that. Love, River x._

Kari smiled to herself as she finished reading it. She looked back at the wrapping, she didn't want to just rip it open so she carefully inspected it, trying to find somewhere to start. Eventually she found a part that hadn't been taped over and carefully began to open it.

She held her breath as she started to remove the paper, excited to see what was inside. She squealed a little as she noticed something blue becoming visible. She gasped a little when she saw exactly what she had been given. It was an amazing blue night dress. Kari held it up, smiling away to herself.

It was the perfect shade of blue, it was a little short, and rather sexy. She immediately got undressed and put it on, looking at herself in the mirror with it on. It was a perfect fit.

"Oh, thank you so much, River. I really do love it." She whispered to herself. The TARDIS seemed to hum in approval as well.

She plonked herself back down on her bed and turned on her laptop. The battery was full and it seemed to be running a lot faster than she remembered. "Did you do something amazing to make my laptop a little more super?" She said, looking around the room. The TARDIS gave another hum. "Well, thank you very much, sexy."

She opened up a document titled 'Where I've been' and started filling in the adventures she had just had with the Doctor. She didn't go into detail, all she did was note down the episode titles, that was all the detail she really needed. After she had saved it and closed it, she opened another one, her to do list, and added Villenguard to it. Once she had finished there she opened up her final document and started typing away furiously. She was noting down all the differences there had been, and many questions.

It was about an hour later when she finally turned it off and placed it back on the desk. She let out a sigh as she threw herself on the bed, feeling completely relaxed and exhausted. She pulled the covers over her and snugged down in her bed. It was so soft and warm that Kari fell peacefully asleep in no time.

She didn't know how long she was asleep for, all she knew was that someone was banging on her door, calling out her name. "Kari? Kari are you there?" She let out a groan as she heard the Doctor's voice.

"Maybe she's gone. You said that it's happened before when she has been asleep. It could have happened again." It would appear that Rose was also outside her room.

"I don't want her to have gone yet, Rose." The Doctor said quietly. "Kari? If you're in there can you please just let me know?" He called through the door.

"Ugh, make him shut up, please." She mumbled. A second later the TARDIS gave a loud hum and a shake, which only disturbed Kari from her sleep even more.

"Oi, will you bloody well get up." The Doctor shouted. "She's told me you're in there."

Kari groaned in frustration, all she wanted to do was sleep. "Go away! I need my beauty sleep!" She hollered to him.

"You've slept for long enough, 18 hours to be exact. Now get a shift on and get out of bed." He called.

"18 hours isn't long enough. I've got a weeks worth of sleeping to catch up on. Come back in a few days." She shouted, pulling the duvet over her head to block out the noise.

"You're a Time Lord, you don't need that much sleep. Now get up."

Kari just curled herself up tighter under the covers, making no attempt to move. She knew that he wasn't able to come in her room and get her out, so he had no way of forcing her out of her room. What she had forgotten was that she was in the TARDIS, and even she thought it was time for her to get up.

The whole room started shaking violently, making Kari fall out of the bed and hit the floor with a loud thud. She could hear the Doctor laughing outside, he knew what had just happened.

"Oi, this is really not fair!" She shouted.

"I take it you're up now?" The Doctor asked her through the door.

Kari grabbed the dressing gown sitting on the chair by the desk and quickly put it on before opening the door. "Yes, I am up. You happy now?" She asked, frowning at him.

"Yes. Now get dressed. And hurry up." He said before turning away from her and heading towards the console room, Rose at his side.

"Yeah, good morning to you as well." She called after them. Kari could have sworn she heard both of them laughing before they disappeared around the corner. She let out a sigh and headed back into her room. "Stupid bloody Time Lords." She muttered, heading towards her bathroom.

She took her time have a nice, long bath before deciding it was time to head to the console room. She wrapped a towel around her body and another one around her hair. She looked on her bed and saw a fresh pair of jeans, a short sleeved blue top and a pair of converses waiting on the bed for her.

"Oh, thank you, sexy." She said before quickly grabbing them and getting dressed.

Kari picked up her hair brush and starting to run it through her hair before putting it back and tying it up. What used to be her fringe was a lot longer, but not long enough to stay tied back so it ended up falling into her eyes. After fighting with it for some time she finally gave up and let it hang over to the side.

She stepped out of her room and walked straight into someone. Kari looked up and saw Jack grinning at her. "He sent you to come and get me didn't he?"

"Good morning to you as well, Princess." He said, wrapping his arms around her. "I hope you're not in a bad mood already this morning?"

She let out a sigh. "Not yet, but I'm sure the Doctor will change that soon enough. I'm looking forward to annoying him today if I'm honest with you."

Jack studied her carefully as he let her go, and curiosity got the better of him. "And why would you want to do that?"

Kari let a smirk form on her face. "Because it's just too easy to wind this version of him up. Plus, I still haven't completely forgiven him for something that happened yesterday." She thought back to what had happened, how the Doctor was refusing to save Jack, trying to rewrite time by removing him from Kari's future. Lucky for her, she had someone special on her side, she had the TARDIS agreeing with her. The TARDIS had opened her mind and she now knew exactly how to pilot the TARDIS, and she could do it better than the Doctor.

"What did he do?" He was still curious. But Kari wasn't sure she wanted to tell him exactly what had happened.

"He was being an idiot. But don't worry, I got my way in the end." She said, putting her arm through Jack's and starting to drag him through the ship. "Come on, time to go and see what the stupid Time Lord has planned for us today."

Jack just looked at her in shock. "Hey, aren't you stupid Time Lord as well?"

Kari snorted a little. "Please, just because I have two hearts and the same biological make up as a Time Lord, that does not mean that I am one. And even if I really were, I would be a Time Lady. Thank you very much, Harkness."

Jack couldn't help but laugh, he could see she was stubborn and could only imagine how much of a handful she could be at times. But he couldn't wait to find out what she was like in their future, he knew it would be interesting.

Once they reached the console room, Rose and the Doctor were sitting in the seat, chattering away. They hadn't noticed that Kari and Jack had arrived yet.

"She shouldn't have done it, Rose. It could cause all kinds of problems. None of us know what her stupid actions are going to have caused." The Doctor moaned. Clearly he was not happy with something that Kari had done.

"Yeah, but Doctor, if she knows him in the future, than surely it was meant to happen. If she didn't she would have been changing time." Rose said, trying to make him see sense.

The Doctor just glared at her. "She had no clue as to what she was doing, Rose. You remember what happened when you saved someone who was meant to die?" Kari noticed Rose shift uncomfortable. She knew exactly what the Doctor was talking about now.

"Oh, will you just give it a rest already, Doctor. It's done now, and nothing you can do is going to change it. So get over it." Kari called, stepping away from Jack and towards the Doctor. "If anyone was going to rewrite time, it was going to be you. You don't know what I do, so don't you dare think for a second that I had no clue about what I was doing." Her eyes were burning brightly now, and she could feel it this time.

"You are so full of yourself, you know that, Kari?" The Doctor spat at her.

"Me? Oh no, Doctor. I think you're talking about yourself. You always have to be right, you always have to know more than anyone else. You insult anyone who isn't as good as you. And that includes me." She yelled at him. She had hoped that after last night, everything with this Doctor would calm down a little, but it would appear she was wrong.

"That's because you saved him." The Doctor shouted at her, pointing at Jack.

Kari wasn't going to take any more from the Doctor, she had had enough. "I saved Captain Jack Harkness, because you wouldn't. One day, you're going to understand why. And when that day comes I hope I am no longer in your life."

The Doctor snorted at her. "Now, I know that you don't mean that."

Kari glared at him, her eyes burning brighter and brighter the more angry she became. "Don't I? If I was actually given a choice of staying on Earth or travelling with you, I'd stay on Earth."

Both Rose and Jack were looking more than a little uncomfortable now. Rose was slightly scared as well, she had never seen Kari so angry with the Doctor before, or with anyone. She had witnessed their arguments before, but they had never been as serious as this one. She had never heard Kari say that she would rather not be with the Doctor.

"Right, I'll just take you to Earth and leave you there then." The Doctor said, starting to move around the console.

"Doctor, you can't!" Rose cried, trying to stop him.

"No, if that's what the little princess wants then that's what she gets." He told her, setting the coordinates.

Kari stood there watching him, she had mixed feelings now about what was happening. But his attitude had made it clear that she did not like traveling with that version of him. He was too bossy, too arrogant and seemed to hate Jack. "Since I'm leaving, I'd like to borrow the psychic paper please. Just so I can send someone a message." Kari said, holding out her hand.

The Doctor just looked at her hand before turning away from her. Kari let out a sigh, she should have known he wouldn't let her borrow it now.

"Here, take mine." Jack said softy, putting his psychic paper in her hands. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine." He whispered, seeing that her eyes were slowly returning to their normal golden colour.

"Nothing is ever going to be fine with that man, Jack. He doesn't realise just how important you are, but I do know." Kari said, letting out a sigh. "I don't understand why he is acting this way. It's like he is jealous or something."

"Right, here we go. Earth, 21st century. Bye then." The Doctor said before disappearing somewhere else inside the huge ship.

Kari just shook her head, this wasn't how she had expected the day going, but it was too late now. She was not going to apologise to that man, she knew she had done nothing wrong. "I'll see you around, Rose." She said, hugging the blonde.

"You're not really going are you?" Rose asked, holding back the tears.

"You know me, once I've decided on something I never turn back." Kari said, as they pulled apart. She turned around and faced Jack. "Stay out of trouble, Harkness. I did not save you just for you to go and die when I'm not around." She warned him playfully.

"I can't believe all this is because you saved me." He mumbled to her has he held her tightly. "You shouldn't have done it."

"You're worth saving, Harkness. If he wants to act like a child over it, then let him. I know what I done was right, I know that you deserved to live." She whispered back to him, holding her own tears back.

"Make sure you find me in the future." He told her, finally letting her go.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. I know exactly where and when to find you. Believe me, I'm going to make your life absolute hell if I get my way." Jack just rolled his eyes at her.

"Look after yourself, Princess." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"And you, Jack. Like I said, I didn't save you for nothing." She turned around and gave Rose one last look. "See you later, Rose Tyler." With the psychic paper in her hand she headed down the ramp and towards the doors of the TARDIS.

The ship itself gave a very unhappy hum. "I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll be back, maybe." She whispered, before pulling the door open and stepping out into the sun.

She really was back on Earth, back in the time that she knew. She wasn't stuck in the past or the future, she was home. Kari stepped away from the blue box, resisting the urge to turn around and head back inside. She knew she couldn't even turn around and look at it, she knew that the Doctor would now be watching her, expecting her to come back. No, she was not going to let him win, she was walking away from it all.

And that's what she did. She walked further away from the box and around a corner. As soon as she was out of sight she heard the engines of the magical ship and Kari knew that they were gone. Only she didn't know what to really do now. She had no money, no friends, all she had was the psychic paper and she wasn't even sure she knew what to do with it.

She flipped the wallet open. She could send a message to the Doctor, but that might go wrong, like it did for River and arrive early. River, she realised she could send a message to River. She trusted her, she knew that if she needed help then she would be the best person to contact.

Kari looked down at the paper and watched as the message she wanted to send to River flashed across it.

_River, I need you. I'm stuck on Earth. The Doctor is an idiot. I hate him. Kari x._

She felt the paper burning for a moment before the message faded and it went cold. All she could do was hope that it worked and that River got her message and come to see her. Kari decided that in the mean time she was going to have a little walk around, try to work out where exactly she was on Earth.

As she looked around she saw familiar things, like the post office and the duck pond without any ducks. Kari froze on the spot. "Oh no. Please don't tell me he dropped me off in Leadworth." She looked at her surroundings some more and confirmed that she was indeed in Leadworth.

She didn't hesitate, she needed to find out exactly what point in time this was. There was every chance that the Doctor was going to turn up, or he could have already been. She made her way to Amy's house, for some reason her feet seemed to just take her there.

She went for the back door, from what she could remember, Amy didn't exactly lock it when she left that night with the Doctor. Around the back, she noticed that the shed was in one piece, and there was no TARDIS in the garden. The back door opened easily and she charged up the stairs and straight into the room of Amelia Pond.

"She's getting married in the morning." Kari whispered, noticing the wedding dress and the date on the clock by the bed. "Oh, hurry up, River. They're going to be here by midnight and I want to be gone by then." She mumbled to herself.

As if on cue there was a loud crack and a blinding flash of light. "Hello, darling. Is everything alright?" River asked, grinning away.

"No, everything is not alright, River. The Doctor is a complete and total idiot and I never want to see him again. Ever." Kari announced firmly.

River looked at her on shock. She had never heard her speak about the Doctor like the before. "Kari, what's happened?" River asked, putting an arm around her as they sat on Amy's bed.

"He decided that he knew best, but he didn't. I knew what needed to happen, so I saved someone he didn't want me to save. But that person is going to be a fixed point in time. I had to do it." Kari told her, trying to hold back the tears.

"What regeneration was it?" River asked softly.

"It was his 9th. And I hate him." She didn't know if she really meant that. She knew that she didn't get along with that Doctor, but she was fine with some others.

"You don't mean that, Kari." River didn't know what to say to her.

"I do. That's why he dumped me here." That was it. She couldn't hold the tears any longer and they started rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh, darling. Everything will be fine. You know what he gets like when he doesn't get his own way. Come on, let's get out of here before someone finds us." She said, pulling Kari off the bed and looking at her mothers wedding dress.

They left the house and took a walk around the little village of Leadworth. It was exactly the same as Kari thought it would be.

"I don't know what to do, River. Everything is a complete mess now. We pretty much started fighting the moment we saw each other. It was the first time I had met that regeneration and this is how it ended." Kari told her as they walked past the post office.

"Well, I haven't met that version of him yet either, but when I do he can expect to get a earful from me." River said sternly. She was clearly not happy with the way things had happened, Kari was so upset and lost and River was not going to allow the man who had caused her to be like that get away with it.

"No, don't. There's no need for that. All I can say is I hope I never see him again. And if I do have the misfortune to see him again, I hope I jump at the first chance." It was clear from her tone that she meant every word of it.

"Kari, what do you want to do?" River asked her, turning her so that they were facing each other.

Kari let out a sigh. "I don't know. Where are you and him up to?"

"America." River said sadly. "I know that hasn't happened for you yet, but you still know everything about it don't you?"

Kari nodded at her. "It's okay, River. I know what happens, and I don't blame you. And above all else, I forgive you." Kari gave the woman a hug, seeing how upset she was starting to look. "Now, to decide on what to do. We both know why we can't hang around here much longer."

Kari knew that it wasn't going to be possible for River to take her to a certain Doctor, the one that she had left before meeting him in 1941. River hadn't met him yet, and she didn't meet him until she went to the library. "I want to see my bow tie wearing Doctor."

River smiled at her. "I'm sure we can manage that. And I know exactly where we should be going to find him, you would have just left him and he will be in the TARDIS feeling sorry for himself."

Kari frowned at her. "Why would he be feeling sorry for himself?" She wondered.

"Because he is in the TARDIS on his own. Mother and father are living their life back on Earth, and with you gone, he is pretty miserable." River told her.

"Well then, we better go and change that then, hadn't we? You know what happens when he is left on his own for too long." Kari said, doing her best to smile.

"Right, let's go then shall we?" River said, flipping open her vortex manipulator and pressing a few of the buttons. "Ready?" River asked. Kari nodded at her and placed her hand over the vortex manipulator. "Let's go and surprise him."

In a blinding flash of light, everything around Kari disappeared. She had never travelled by vortex manipulator before, and she had been expecting it to be pretty bad for her first time, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected.

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**A/N: Bet you wasn't expecting that now was you! Again, I am sorry for how long it had been since updating. I had uni work, and writers block, and wasn't well. Everything seemed to just happen at once. **

**I promise to work harder in future. I mean it, I really. Thank you to those who followed/favourited/reviewed, even when I hadn't updated as well. You guys are awesome. **

**I mean it, I will kick myself back into shape. **

**Pippa.**


	14. Repair the Damage

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the follows/favourites. I love you all. Anyway, on with the show!**

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When she blinked the spots from in front for her eyes, she saw she was in the TARDIS, the one with the glass floor and the console made from random objects. "Look's like no one is home." Kari said, not being able to see the Doctor anywhere.

"Well, he can't have gone far. Shall we take a look outside?" River suggested.

"Actually, I'm quite happy to just wait here for him. I've had enough adventures for the moment, thank you very much." Kari said, plonking herself down in the chair.

River just looked at her in shock. "You're turning down an adventure?" Kari just shrugged her shoulders, like it was no big deal. "That man really does have some explaining to do." River was getting annoyed now, Kari never turned down an adventure.

"Please, River. There really is no need. It was a long time ago for him, I doubt he will even remember what happened." Kari insisted.

"Remember what?" A voice called from the stairs behind them.

Kari turned around to see her bow tie wearing Doctor standing there, arms folded across his chest and a frown upon his face. "Never you mind." Kari called. She didn't feel much like telling him what was going on.

River, however, was not going to let it drop. She walked over to the Doctor and slapped him hard across the face. "I take it that was for something I haven't done yet?" He asked, rubbing the cheek that she had hit.

"No, that's for something you done life times ago." River spat at him.

"River, please. I told you to drop it." Kari shouted.

"No. He needs to understand." River told her, not moving away from in front of the Doctor.

"What do I need to understand? Can one of you please tell me what's going on?" It was clear that he was confused, and his eyes were pleading with Kari to explain everything.

"It really doesn't matter. It's over and done with. It was life times ago for you, Doctor." Kari told him, trying to keep calm and act like everything was fine. She really didn't want there to be any trouble, she was already on bad terms with one version of him, and she didn't want to cause problems with this man as well.

"So, it's something that happened in a previous regeneration. Can someone please tell me what it was?" The Doctor asked, walking away from River and over to where Kari was sitting. "Kari, where have you been?"

Kari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "1941." She whispered.

Instantly the Doctor seemed to understand everything that was going on. "Oh, Jack."

"Do you know what happened? She sent me a message on the psychic paper, telling me you had dumped her on Earth." River shouted. She wasn't going to hide the fact that she was angry with the Doctor. "I found her in Leadworth, on her own with nothing but the psychic paper in her hand."

"Kari, I think we need to talk about this." The Doctor said, trying to ignore the angry woman standing behind him.

She nodded at him. "Yeah. I guess we should." She said before standing up and moving to River. "Thank you, River. I'd still be stuck in Leadworth if it wasn't for you." Kari said as she hugged her.

"You know where I am if you need me." River whispered back to her.

"I know. Thanks." Kari smiled at her as they broke apart. "I expect you to behave yourself Dr Song." River saluted at her before glaring at the Doctor. He didn't dare say anything to her, she was angry with him enough. The next moment there was a crack and a flash and River was gone.

"Kari, are you okay?" The Doctor asked her quietly.

She nodded at him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The Doctor knew that wasn't true, he knew that she was still upset. "I went back for you, but you had already gone. I never wanted to leave you there. I was an idiot."

"At least now you know why I had to save him. And yes, you were a complete idiot. I tell you now, I wanted to just hit you, but River has done that for me." Kari told him, trying her best to avoid his eyes.

"Why did you send a message to River and not me?" He asked her curiously.

"River sent you a message that arrived too early, I couldn't face seeing that version of you again so soon. I knew River could get me to you, but I knew this was the only regeneration I could get her to take me." She finally pulled her eyes up and looked at him. "I haven't seen you for a while, and this has been the only time I have had a choice of where I wanted to go."

"Well, I'm glad you came to me." He told her, giving her the biggest smile that he could. "So, now that you're here, what do you want to do?"

Kari thought about it for a moment, she wasn't exactly sure that she wanted to leave the TARDIS just yet. She was still slightly annoyed with the Doctor, even though the man in front of her wasn't really to blame for it. "Since this is too early in my timeline, I have no idea."

"Kari, I really am sorry for what happened. I honestly never meant for it to go as far as it did. You know what I was like back then, and I really can't excuse my behaviour." The Doctor said, taking hold of both her hands.

"I know. And I don't hold anything against you for it. I'm sure I'll give you hell for it the next time I see that version of you." Kari told him, making him laugh a little. "I'm guessing from your reaction that I actually do give you complete hell at some point because of it then."

"Yes, you do. But I really am sorry. If I could do it differently I would, but you know I can't." Kari could see how sincere he was being, this version of him always seemed to be so caring and concerned. That was not something she had seen with his 9th regeneration, he had been stern and jealous, and maybe a tad nasty to her as well.

"It's fine. Let's just move on now, shall we? Tell me, what have you been up to? I need to work out where we are." She smiled at him properly for the first time.

"Well, since you said this is still early for you, why don't you tell me what we have been up to?" He asked her, stilling holding onto both of her hands.

Kari frowned at him. "Do you really think I am going to fall for that? I may have done something in your future, so I don't think so. Why don't you make a suggestion and I will let you know."

He sighed in defeat, she was just as bad as River for giving away spoilers. "Okay, Angels?"

"On the Byzantium, yup. Been there, done that, barely made it out alive."

"Okay, that was a while ago. Let me think…" Kari was sure she could hear the cogs turning in the Doctor's head as he tried to think of something else they had done together. "Vincent?"

"Nope, but looking forward to that one."

"Right, still early. Oh, this is difficult." He started thinking again, but Kari decided that it would be better if she put him out of his misery. Although she was enjoying watching him pull funny faces as he thought and mumbled to himself.

"Doctor, I've seen this you only three times. This is the fourth. So tell me, do you know when I first met you yet?" She knew that was something safe to ask. That would have been after Amy and Rory had gotten married, so it was after the honeymoon fiasco on the crashing ship.

"When you kept insisting it was all a dream, and that your name was Karianne Conner? I remember that, that was some time ago now actually."

Kari's face lit up. "Well then, I know exactly where we are now. It would seem that what you have to come in the future, I still have to come as well."

The Doctor looked at her a little shocked. "So, you haven't been this far in my future yet?" He asked her.

"Well, I may have seen you further along a little, but that was for around five minutes. No, wait a second… River said that was after you rebooted the universe." Kari watched him as his smile grew bigger. "You know, I still don't know what this big secret is."

"Ah, don't worry. You'll find out sooner or later. I've already told you, not going to tell you again, well not right now." He rambled, not letting his grin fade. "So, what shall we do then? Anywhere you want to go, it's up to you."

Kari thought about it for a moment. She hadn't really spent much time with this Doctor, unless they were running from Angels, or he was avoiding his past self. "I'm happy to just hang around in the TARDIS with you actually. From my perspective, I haven't had my fish fingers and custard that you promised me back on the Byzantium."

"Yes, fish custard, as promised, and a nice cup of tea as well. Perfect idea." He said, pulling Kari out of the chair. "

"Good, because I didn't get breakfast this morning." She said, as she held onto his hand tightly.

"Well, come on then." He smiled at her as they made their way through the impossible ship and to the kitchen.

It was long till they were sitting there, a clear plate and empty bowl sitting on the table in front of them. "Ah, finally. That was awesome." Kari said, leaning back in the chair, a satisfying smile on her face. "I don't care how disgusting people think that is, I love it."

The Doctor chuckled, he was glad to see her happy after everything that had happened. "Right, what do you want to do now? We can go anywhere you want."

Kari shrugged. "I don't mind. As long as I'm with my favourite Time Lord, I really don't care."

The Doctor frowned at her. "I'm your only Time Lord." He reminded her.

"Hence why you are my favourite." She told him, trying not to break out in laughter at the look on his face. His expression quickly changed, and Kari was sure she could see a gleam in his eyes. "Oh, no. I know that look." She said, taking the plate and bowl over to the sink. "Nothing good ever happens when you have that look."

"What look?" He asked her, a little surprised that she had noticed.

"That look." Kari said, nodding towards him. "That look that says 'I have a plan' but in reality it has something to do with you getting your own way."

"Actually, I was only going to suggest we go and watch a few movies today. You know, relax, take some time out." He said calmly, as he watched her turn the taps off and started to do the washing up.

Kari couldn't help but giggle. "You? Relax? That's a first. And that is how I know you are up to something."

"Kari, sometimes even I want to just sit down and do nothing. Make's it even better if you're there as well." There was something in the way he was speaking that made Kari think that he was up to something even more.

Eventually she relented. "Okay, fine. Movie day, if that's what you want." She told him as she started to dry her hands on the towel. "But it better not be anything boring. No sappy romance or anything like that."

"Okay, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?" He asked, as she sat back down.

"Which ones?"

A grin spread across the Time Lords face. "All of them."

Kari looked at him in shock. "All of them?" He nodded at her. "But that… that will take up the whole day, and most of the night as well. Are you sure you can handle sitting in one place for that long?"

"Hey, I was in Harry Potter, thank you very much." He told her, grinning madly. "I'm sure I can sit through my own movie. Come on then, what do you say?" He was starting to bounce around the room now.

"Calm down, evil Barty Crouch Jr. I don't remember seeing you in Lord of The Rings though?" Kari told him letting him drag her out of the kitchen.

"Oh, I was working behind the scenes. Peter could never get the settings right. I just helped him a little." The Doctor bragged before stopping outside a red door that had appeared. "So, what's it to be then? Hogwarts or Middle Earth?"

"Take me to platform nine and three quarters, I have an acceptance letter for Hogwarts." Kari was beaming away at him. Spending time with this Doctor was always so much fun.

They had just finished watching the second film when Kari made an announcement. "I'm hungry." She moaned, not really caring that she was sounding like a little kid.

"Well, we can't have that now can we? What do you want to eat?" The Doctor asked, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the sofa that had been watching the films from.

"Pizza!" She shouted, dragging him to the kitchen. When they arrived, they found that the TARDIS was one step ahead of them. "Oh, you sexy thing. You are brilliant." Kari said, looking at the pizza bases already on the counter, waiting for them to top.

"Did you just call her sexy?" The Doctor asked quizzically.

"Yes, I did. Because we both know she is. She is sexy, and wonderful, and magnificent and completely majestic. Never been another like her." The TARDIS let out a loud and happy hum. "Now come on, what crazy things are you putting on your pizza? I hope you're not planning on using custard as the base sauce and then topping it with fish fingers."

The Doctor looked at her as if she was mad. "Why would you even think I would do that?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Because you are completely weird." Kari looked and saw the dejected look on the Time Lord's face. "But I love you anyway." Suddenly both her hands went flying to her mouth and her eyes widened in shock as she realised what she had just said.

"Kari, it's okay. Just breathe." The Doctor said, realising she was shocked by the words that had come from her mouth. "Kari, move your hand's before I move them for you." She still just stood there in shock. The Doctor had no choice but to take her hands in his own and pry them away from her mouth.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry. I am so sorry." She rambled, finally coming back to her senses. "I don't know why I said that, I really don't. I'm so sorry."

The Doctor laughed at her a little. "Kari, it's fine. Forget about it. Now, shall we get on with these pizza's?" Kari nodded at him, afraid of what would come out of her mouth if she spoke another word.

Once the pizzas were cooked, they took them with them back to finish off their movie marathon. "Kari, there's no need to be so quiet. I've heard worse thing's come from your mouth." He told her as they placed the pizzas down on the small table in front of the sofa.

"Doctor, I really am sorry. Can we please just forget it ever happened and move on? We still have to get to your appearance in Harry Potter." Kari said, keeping her gaze firmly away from his.

"Come on then." He said, pointing his screwdriver at the wall, which doubled up as the screen. The next film started and Kari finally began to relax. She still couldn't believe what she had said. But she was grateful that the Doctor laughed it off.

They were just getting started on the fifth movie when Kari started slouching more and more on the sofa. Most of the time she had been sitting with her feet up and her head resting in her hand, which was resting on the arm of the sofa. But now, her head was pretty much on the arm of the sofa.

"Kari, are you tired?" The Doctor asked her softly, brushing some of her hair away from her eyes.

"No, I'm just resting my eyes a little." She mumbled, not noticing how close he was to her.

"You can go to bed if you want to."

"No, I'm watching the film." She replied. Not moving or opening her eyes.

"You're watching it with your eyes closed?" He asked her, slightly amused at the way she was acting.

"Yes, I'm listening to what they are saying and watching it in my head. Have you never seen a film so many times before that you can do that?" She asked quietly.

The Doctor was confident that she was falling asleep, but Kari was stubborn and he knew that she was not going to admit to being so tired. "Right, so what's going on now?" He asked, turning the sound off, putting the subtitles on and waiting for her to tell him what was playing out on the screen.

"Disciplinary hearing of the 12th of August, into offenses committed by Harry James Potter, resident at number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of…'" Kari told him confidently.

Much to the Doctor's surprise, she had been right, word for word perfect. "Well, that was slightly impressive." He confessed.

"Told you I was watching it in my head." She said smugly.

"Fine, I believe you." The Doctor said, letting a small smile creep across his face. "You know, that looks rather uncomfortable. Come here." He pulled her up off the arm and forced her into his arms. He laid back and took Kari with him, getting her to rest her head against his chest.

"Hmm, you were right. That was uncomfortable. You're definitely more comfortable." Kari said, making herself just the little bit more comfortable.

The Doctor just stayed there with a smirk on his face. He didn't care that she was falling asleep, he knew that she had been through a lot. He could completely understand why she was upset and angry with him, she had every right to be, but he was grateful that she didn't hold it against him.

He knew that one day soon she would tell him exactly what she thought of him, and that he was going to deserve everything she threw at him. But that wasn't until she saw him back where she had just come from. What the Doctor also knew, was that she would eventually forgive him.

"Kari, you still resting your eyes?" He asked her quietly. When she didn't respond he looked down at her. Her chest was slowly rising and falling, she was most certainly fast asleep now. He knew there was only one thing he could do now, and that was take her to her room.

The Doctor gently managed to gather her up into his arms and the TARDIS kindly opened the door for her. If what Kari said was true, and they really were at the same point in time, he could finally settle her down in her own bed in her own room. It wasn't very often he had the chance to do that.

As he reached her room, the door opened by itself. "Thanks, dear." He whispered as he entered the room. It looked much the same as it had when he had first been in that room, except for a few extra times and the laptop of hers being moved.

He knew that laptop meant a lot to her, and she never took it out of her room. He put Kari down on the bed and pulled the covers over her before heading over to the table where the laptop was sitting. Every bone in his body was telling him not to touch it, but he was the Doctor, and he never listened to reason.

"If you touch that, I am going to cut up every single one of your bow ties." Kari mumbled from the bed.

The Doctor turned around and frowned at her. "I thought you were asleep?" He asked curiously.

"I am asleep. But someone told me that you were touching something that you really shouldn't be." She still hadn't moved, and she still hadn't opened her eyes. "So if you want to keep your bow ties, I suggest you move your hands away from that laptop, right now."

"I take it there is a reason I'm not allowed to touch it?" He asked, going and sitting on the side of the bed.

"Yes." Kari mumbled, pulling the covers tighter around herself. She didn't want to admit just how tired she really was. Plus she didn't want to fall asleep and wake up somewhere else, that was actually the last thing she wanted. She was happy here, and she didn't want to have to face anyone else just yet.

"And are you going to tell me the reason?" He asked, making himself more comfortable next to her.

"Spoilers. Now shut up and let me sleep." She mumbled back to him. The Doctor decided that it was best if he left her alone to sleep, even though he would much rather stay there and just be with her while she slept.

"Sleep well, Kari." He said, planting a light kiss on the top of her head. He turned away from her and was about to head for the door when someone latched onto his hand.

"I told you to let me sleep, not leave." Kari said, yanking on his arm and pulling him back down onto the bed. The Doctor wasn't going to protest, if she wanted him to stay, he was going to stay.

"Better?" He asked, lying on his back on the bed next to her.

"No." She said, before shuffling over closer to him. The Doctor seemed to realise what she was doing and opened his arms, letting her rest her head against his chest again. "All better now." She whispered.

"Well, I'm glad you're comfy." The Doctor said, trying not to laugh at the way she was acting. Sure enough, he had seen her this way before, but that was in her future. There was still so much that she had to get through first, and nothing he could do could stop the pain that she was going to feel.

When Kari woke up, she found that she was cuddled up to the Doctor. What surprised her even more was the fact that he was sound asleep. She knew that he hardly ever slept, he was always running around, saving planets and people, and generally getting into a lot of trouble. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him sleeping so peacefully.

She managed to slip out of his arms and crept over to the desk where her laptop was sitting. Kari knew that she was going to have to find a hiding place for it now, it wasn't safe to be left lying around with the Doctor able to go into her room. That's when she had an idea. The bag that River had given her, it had a perception filter on it so that the Doctor wouldn't see it.

She rummaged through her wardrobe as quietly as she could until she finally found the bag. Kari smiled to herself when she realised that it was bigger on the inside. The laptop slipped into it perfectly and she hid it back in the wardrobe.

While she was there she grabbed some clean clothes and made her way into the bathroom. She only had a quick shower, after all, she hadn't been running around, fearing for her life for once. When she was dressed she stepped back out to find the Doctor sitting up on her bed, smiling away at her.

"Finally decided to wake up then, Doctor?" She said, tugging her brush through her hair.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was resting my eyes." He told her, giving her his best grin.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh yes, of course you were. Those were just fake snores I was hearing then, yeah?"

"Hey, I do not snore." He called to her defensively. "So, what do you want to do today?" He asked, getting off the bed and watching her as she tied her hair back.

"I really don't mind. We can do whatever you want." As soon as she had said that, she regretted it. "Oh come on. You have got to be kidding me." She said as she nearly stumbled over.

The Doctor was quick to catch her. "Kari? What's wrong?" There was panic in his voice.

"I am not bloody going any where. Do you hear me?" She shouted at no one in particular. "Nowhere!"

The Doctor let out a sigh. "You've got a headache haven't you?" Kari just nodded at him as best she could. "Come on. I shouldn't be in here when you leave. She locks this room and hides it away from me until the next time you show up. I don't really feel like being trapped in here." He said, helping her to her feet properly and walking her to the door.

"I really am not going anywhere." She cried, trying to ignore the burning pain that was growing in her head. "I refuse. You can't make me."

"I'm sorry, Kari." The Doctor said, lightly kissing her on the lips as they stood in the corridor. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"No, I'm not going. I am not going." She yelled, tears streaming down her face. She was scared that she was going to end up back with the Doctor she wanted to get away from. She wanted to stay there, they were at the same point in time, and neither of them knew when that was going to happen again.

"I promise you, Kari, I will see you soon. Everything will be fine." He said, backing away from her as the golden light started to take her over.

"Please…" She begged, their eyes meeting. Even the Doctor looked like he had tears in his eyes just before Kari vanished from his sight. Everything had been going so well, and now she was gone again.

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**A/N: Okay, so the poll is closed. The decision has been made, and the result will be revealed in time. Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long to find out what people wanted. I promise. **

**As always, reviews are most welcome and greatly appreciated. I promise to update again soon. **

**Pippa.**


	15. New Earth Pt1

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, busy over the holidays and working on my Uni assignment. Anyway, here we go, the next chapter you have all waited so patiently for.**

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Kari opened her eyes to see that she was still in the same corridor in the TARDIS. Her door was right in front of her but she knew the TARDIS was different, the corridor looked different. She knew that she was no long with her bow tie wearing Doctor, and she was terrified that she was with the big-eared one in the leather jacket.

"I don't want to be here." She whispered before pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head against them, letting more tears fall.

She felt the TARDIS engines start, but she didn't move. Kari stayed exactly where she was, silently crying. She hadn't wanted to leave him, she had been happy there and would have done anything to stay that little bit longer.

"Kari?" A woman's voice called, causing her to look up. "Kari, what's happened?" She said, rushing to her side and kneeling down beside her.

"I don't want to be here, Rose. Not after what happened with Jack. I can't be here." Kari mumbled, trying to hold back her sobs.

"Is that where you've just come from?" Rose ask, putting and arm around her friend.

Kari nodded slightly. "After you all left, I contacted a friend. She picked me up and took me to a future Doctor."

"Kari, he went back for you. We were only gone for a few minutes and he couldn't find you. We all looked everywhere for you but none of us could find you. The Doctor was in a state. I've never seen him look so scared before." Rose told her, trying to comfort her as best she could.

"It was his own fault. He shouldn't have been such an idiot about me saving Jack. He should remember that I know a lot more about the future than he does, Rose." Kari told her, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, well you make sure he knows that." Kari jut looked at her, wondering what she meant. "Want to know a spoiler?" Kari shrugged at her, she didn't really care at the moment. "The next time he see's you, after what happened, you really put him in his place. I was standing there looking like a goldfish."

Kari just nodded at her. She had already been told that, and already a plan had been forming in her head. "So, where are you guys up to then? What's been going on?" She asked, still not feeling too happy about being there since she didn't know who she was going to see.

"Well… we just spent Christmas with my mum and Mickey." Rose told her. Kari's head instantly shot up.

"The Christmas Invasion." She whispered to herself. Then her eyes grew wide as she leapt off the floor and began running along the corridor, completely forgetting that she was leaving Rose behind.

She ran as fast as she could to the console room, glad that she was in her comfy jeans and trainers. She knew exactly where they were up to now, and Kari couldn't help but feel a relieved to know who would be surprised to see her.

"You took long enough, Rose. Everything alright?" The man in the suit asked as Kari skidded to a halt entering the console room. He wasn't paying attention to her, he was looking at something on the scanner. Before he had the chance to turn around, Kari sprang forward and threw herself at him, latching onto him tightly.

It took him a few seconds to realise that someone was holding onto him for dear life. When he looked down he saw that it wasn't Rose, the hair wasn't blonde enough to be her. "Kari?" He asked, a very surprised look on his face.

"How many other woman throw themselves at you?" She mumbled into his jacket.

The Doctor didn't know how to answer her at first. "Usually, it's only you." He told her, kissing the top of her head as he continued to embrace her. Usually she would have let him go by now, but she was still clinging onto him tightly. "Kari, what's wrong?" He asked, gently pushing her away slightly and moving a stray piece of hair from her face.

"Nothing. I'm just… happy to see you, that's all." She told him, putting on her best fake smile.

"Liar. Come on, tell me what's the matter?" He asked her again, pulling her over to the double chair and sitting down with her.

"Nothing, really. I've just had a bit of a bad few days, that's all. I went to sleep in my bed and ended up here. I panicked a little at first, that's all." She told him, trying to stay calm and make herself sound believable.

"Kari, I've known you my entire life, so that's a pretty long time. I know when you're lying and I know when something is wrong." He told her, keeping a tight grip on her hand.

"It's what happened with Jack. It's still pretty raw for me, but I know you're sorry and I know that you understand now why I had to do it." She told him, keeping her gaze firmly on the grilled floor of the TARDIS.

She felt a hand under her chin and her eyes were pulled up to meet the Doctor's. "Kari, I am so sorry for what happened."

"I know." She whispered. "Come on, let's take Rose somewhere fun. It's been a tough Christmas." A real smile finally managed to take over her face.

The Doctor smiled back at her before leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Aww, look at the pair of you. Kissed and made up now have you?" Rose called, coming into the room.

Kari rolled her eyes. "We weren't kissing, Rose. We were deciding where to take you." She told her, getting out of the seat and running around the console.

"You know, I still can't believe he actually let's you fly the TARDIS now." Rose said, coming and standing by the console with her.

"Neither can I. This is only my second time." She said with a grin. The Doctor quickly jumped up behind her and tried to pull her away from the console. "Not going to work, Doctor." She said, giggling away as he tugged hard around her waist. "Off we go!" She shouted, pulling the leaver down and falling back against the Doctor.

"Kari!" The Doctor shouted in annoyance.

"What? I left the breaks on for you. I know how much you love that sound." She told him, trying to contain her giggles as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. She tried to wiggle out of his grip on the floor of the ship, only for him to hold onto her more.

Kari felt something burning in the back pocket of her jeans. "Wait! Stop, stop!" She shouted, trying to get the Doctor to let her go. "Doctor, if you don't let me go in three seconds I am going to scream right in your ear." She said, starting to count down. As soon as she hit three, a hand flew over her mouth just as she took a deep breath.

"Please, no screaming." He whispered, both of them lying incredibly still. "I will let you go if you promise not to scream." Kari nodded her head at him and he let her go.

Once she was standing up she reached into her pocket and pulled out the black leather wallet that was Jack's psychic paper. She looked down at the paper and smiled, she knew where they were going, and who was waiting for them.

"Kari? Everything okay?" The Doctor asked, frowning at her as he stood up behind her.

"Yup, just a message from a friend. Nothing important." She told him, putting the wallet back in her pocket.

"Anyone I know?" Kari could see that he was more than a little curious, he was a little worried as well.

There was only one word Kari could think of to keep him quiet. "Spoilers."

There was a thump and the engines came to a halt. Kari let her smile turn into a huge grin as she ran for the door. The Doctor just shook his head and grabbed his coat while Rose laughed and followed Kari out.

"It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87, and this…"

"This is New Earth." Kari and the Doctor said together, both of them grinning madly.

"It's just… that's just…" It was clear that Rose didn't know what to say as she watched the cars flying overhead.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." The Doctor said, squeezing Kari's hand as he held it.

"That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky." Rose said happily. "What's that smell?"

Kari bent down and picked some of the grass before holding it out in front of Rose. "Apple grass." She told her, knowing that the Doctor was beaming away at her.

"Apple grass." Rose laughed a little. "It's beautiful. Oh, I love this. Can I just say, travelling with you two, I love it." Rose said, pulling the Doctor and Kari in for a group hug.

"Us too." Kari said at the same time as the Doctor, making them both laugh a little. "Come on." She said, grabbing Rose's hand as well and pulling her down the hill they were on a little.

The Doctor took off his long brown trench coat and laid it down on the grass. He plonked himself down in the middle and pulled Kari down with him. Rose laughed at the pair as she sat herself down next to them.

The Doctor wrapped an arm around Kari, letting a smile take over his face. "So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." He said, playing with Kari's hair a little.

"That was where you guys first took me." Rose said, looking at the sky.

"We had chips." Neither of them realised what they were saying.

"Spoilers." Kari sung, causing Rose to roll her eyes and the Doctor to swat her on the top of the head.

"So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in." The Doctor told them, although Kari already knew.

"What's the city called?" Rose asked, looking over towards the city before them across the water.

"New New York." Kari said, glancing over at the building to the side of them.

"Oh, come on." Rose protested, giving Kari a look that said she didn't believe her.

"It is. It's the city of New New York." The Doctor told her.

"Strictly speaking it's the fifteenth New York since the original." Kari said. "So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York."

Rose looked at the Doctor. "You're so different." She said, watching the way he was absentmindedly playing with Kari's hair still.

"New New Doctor." He said, beaming away still.

"Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" Rose asked, as the Doctor helped Kari get to her feet.

"Well, I thought we might go there first." The Doctor said, getting his coat on and pointing towards the building Kari had been glancing at earlier.

"Why, what is it?" Rose asked, looking at the building as well.

"A hospital." Kari told her. "Green moon on the side, that's the universal symbol for hospitals. Plus, the Doctor got…" She reaching into his inside pocket and pulled out his wallet. "This. A message on the psychic paper."

Rose looked down at the paper that said '_Ward 26 Please Come._'

"Someone wants to see me." He said, taking it back from Kari.

"Hmm. And I thought we were just sightseeing. Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes." Rose said, linking an arm through Kari's as the Doctor took Kari's other arm.

The trio made their way across the fields of apple grass and towards the hospital. "So, Doctor, any idea who could possibly want to see you then?" Kari asked with a cheeky smile.

"No, but I'm guessing you know?" He asked her. Kari just carried on smiling at him at the got ever closer to the building. "You're in on all this aren't you? You planned on bringing us here didn't you?"

"Nope. I had no idea where the TARDIS was taking us. I didn't set anywhere in particular, I let her take us where she wanted to." Kari told him, not letting her grin falter.

The Doctor just shook his head at has as they carried on walking. The closer they got to the hospital, the more anxious both the Doctor and Kari got.

"Bit rich coming from you." Rose called to the Doctor as they stepped into the hospital.

"I can't help it. I don't like hospitals, they give me the creeps." The Doctor told her, giving Kari a concerned look.

"I just don't particularly like this hospital. I mean, a few hospital trips have been fun, but I don't think this is going to be one of them." She told him, eyeing up the hospital workers.

"Very smart. Not exactly NHS." Rose pointed out as she looked around.

"No shop. I like the little shop." The Doctor announced.

Kari rolled her eyes at him. "You and your little shop. That is the only thing you think of when ever you are in a hospital." She moaned.

"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything." Rose spoke, looking around the reception area still.

"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an on going war." Kari informed her, keeping an eye on Rose and the lifts. She knew what was going to happen, and she was going to do something about it.

"They're cats." Rose said in shock after finally noticing that the nun like nurses had the face of a cat.

"Now, don't stare." The Doctor warned her. "Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow. That's where I'd put the shop. Right there." He said, pointing to a corner and heading to the lift. "Ward 26, thanks."

Kari took her chance, grabbed Rose by the hand and threw her into the lift with the Doctor just before the doors closed. "Oh dear, looks like I'll have to get the next one." She mumbled.

"Watch out for the…"

"Disinfectant. Yeah I know Doctor. See you in a bit." Kari called back to him as she stepped into the lift. "Ward 26, please and thank you." She said. "Not that you're going to take me there. Thank you, you human trampoline."

"_Commence stage one disinfection."_ The computer called. Kari just stood there, letting the water drip all over her. She wondered if Rose was screaming her head off, and if the Doctor had actually warned her. _"Commence stage two disinfection."_ The hot air dryer started and Kari began to run her hand through her hair as it dried.

"The human child is clean." A weird man, covered in doodles said as Kari stepped out of the lift. Kari didn't say anything, she just folded her arms across her chest and looked at him. "This way, Kari Conner."

"_Be careful, Princess."_ A voice rang through Kari's head as she walked.

She let herself smile. _"Oh, you know me, where's the fun in being careful? I'll be up in a bit, I know what's going to happen next."_ She called back to the voice.

"_Thing's will change. You're stronger than you know, you need to keep some secrets hidden." _That didn't really make much sense to her, but she thought it over as she carried on following the doodle man.

They entered a room and Kari looked up at the screen that was playing on old film. _"I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever. I'm bored with this drink. Anyway. Oh, hello darling. Now, don't. Stop it." _The woman in the film said.

"Looks like you had a good night, Cassandra." Kari said, turning to look at the piece of skin pegged to a frame. "How long ago was that then?"

"Oh, so brave, and so many questions." Cassandra said.

"Who's your new friend?" Kari asked, nodding to the doodle man. Okay, so she already knew the answer, but she didn't want Cassandra to know that she knew what was going on.

"Oh, that's just Chip. He's my pet." The piece of skin answered.

"I worship the mistress." Chip told her.

"Moisturise me, moisturise me." Cassandra called, feeling her skin drying out. Chip sprayed her with what Kari could only assume was her moisturiser. "He's not even a proper life form. He's a force grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."

Kari pulled a slightly disgusted face. "I hope that means food. So come on, how are you still alive? I distinctly remember your skin cracking and, well, exploding." She already knew the answer, but she was going to have a little fun while she could.

"The brain of my mistress survived. And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin." Chip answered for her.

"So come on, where'd you get the skin from?" Kari asked, trying not to laugh yet.

"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back."

Kari started to giggle now. "Right, so you're talking out of your a…"

"Ask not." Cassandra demanded. Clearly she was not happy.

"Okay, so let me ask something else then." Kari said, walking closer to Cassandra. She wasn't scared of her in the slightest. "You, Chip, hid your mistress away in the hospital. You steal medicine for her and take care of."

"But I am so alone, hidden down here. The last Human in existence." Cassandra said sadly.

"Nah, you're really not the last. Trust me, I know, I've met a hell of a lot of them." Kari told her.

"Mutant stock." The skin protested.

"They evolved, Cassandra. Which is exactly what they are meant to do, just like they done in the past. They evolve and adapt. That's how the human race survives, how it has always survived. All except for you. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do you?" Kari asked her.

Cassandra just went back to watching the film. "Oh, I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it became such hard work."

"Well, Cassandra, you certainly have a knack for survival. Not one that I think is the best, but still." Kari said, knowing exactly what was coming next.

"But I've not been idle, Kari, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something." Cassandra told her.

"Oh, I know. Those cats have so many secrets. And so do you." Kari said, turning to face the psychograft in the doorway. "Nice try, Cassandra."

"You under estimate me, my dear." Cassandra said, nodding to Chip. He jumped forward and grabbed hold if Kari, pushing her forward and into the strange machine in the doorway.

"I'm warning you, Cassandra, you are making a very big mistake." Kari told her, a very big grin on her face.

"This lady's moving on. It's goodbye trampoline and hello blondie." Cassandra said, before a strange cloud of energy floated through the air and into Kari.

"Mistress?" Chip asked, as Kari's body fell to the floor.

"Moisturise me." She said in a panic. "How bizarre. Arms, fingers, hair! Let me see! Let me see!" She cried, looking in a mirror. "Hmm, not bad, I suppose." She turned around and inspected herself from every angle.

"The mistress is beautiful." Chip said as he watched Cassandra control Kari's body.

"Absolutement! Oh, but look." She looked over to where the brain had been preserved in a jar.

"Oh, the brain lead expired. My old mistress is gone." Chip said sadly.

"But safe and sound in here." Cassandra said in Kari's body, tapping her head, reassuring her pet.

"But what of the Kari child's mind?" Chip asked in amazement. He was still finding it difficult to see his mistress in someone else's body.

"Oh, tucked away." She told him.

"_You think so, Cassandra?" _Kari's voice rang out through her own mind. _"You have just made the biggest mistake of your miserable life." _

"What? I… I don't understand? How can she still be there?" There was panic coming from Cassandra now.

"_You should have done your homework better, Cassandra. I'm not human."_ There was a hint of satisfaction in Kari's voice. _"Note the hearts."_ She said, forcing Cassandra to pay attention to the two hearts beating in her chest.

"Oh, my word. What are you?" She screeched. Cassandra was starting to regret taking over Kari's body now. She should have worked harder to get Rose Tyler.

"_Are you scared, Cassandra?"_ Kari asked with a lot of smugness. _"Because you really should be."_

A small whimper came out of her mouth, just as Kari's mobile phone started ringing. _"Answer it. It will be the Doctor. Oh, he looks a bit different now. And please, do not put on any stupid voice."_

"And why should I listen to you?" Cassandra asked the voice in Kari's head.

"_Well, if you want, I can just push you out of this body right now. Want me to do it?"_ Kari asked her, knowing that she probably could do it. There was something so much more to her than anyone could see, especially when she could jump through time and space.

Kari's hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone. "Hello?" Cassandra said, making Kari snigger a little at the nervousness of the silly woman who thought she could just take over her body.

"_Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?"_ The Doctor called down the phone.

Cassandra felt herself being pushed into a corner. "Sorry, I took a little detour. I'll be there as soon as I can." Kari told him. She was grinning away, she had managed to push Cassandra to one side and take control.

"_You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe. Remember him?"_ The Doctor called.

"Doctor, I know more about him than you do. Of course I remember him." Kari said, still keeping in control.

"_How are you doing this?" _Cassandra demanded to know from somewhere in Kari's head.

"Anyway, I'll see you and Rose in a bit." Kari said, before ending the call and putting the phone back in her pocket. "Okay, Cassandra, you can come out now." Kari said, allowing the other woman to take control of her body again.

"_You better be careful, Cassandra. Next time I might not let you back. Now come on, Ward 26. We both want to find out what the Sisterhood are up to so let's move it." _Kari said, taking a back seat and waiting for Cassandra to process everything she had just said.

"You're something different. There's something about you." She said to Kari. "You shouldn't be able to even register what is going on."

"_And yet here I am, taking control when I want. Now, move it. I could cause you a lot of pain if I wanted to."_ Kari warned her.

She seemed a little nervous, but eventually made her way over to the lift and went up to Ward 26.

"_Kari…"_ A voice called. _"She cannot hear me, only you can."_

If she could, she would have let out a sigh of relief. _"How's it going up there?"_ She asked, knowing exactly who it was.

"_It is entertaining watch the Doctor and Rose."_

"_So, is there a reason why I am able to scare the hell of out Cassandra? She should have completely taken me over. She should be compressing me to death. Why isn't she?"_ Kari wondered.

The other voice in her head chuckled lightly. _"You are stronger than you know. You are surrounded with the time vortex, it flows through you and yet doesn't kill you. It makes you stronger."_

"_Why are you telling me all this, Boe?" _She asked him. It was new information to her, certainly, to find out that she had the time vortex flowing through her, but she didn't understand why he was telling her.

"_You know there are terrible days to come, Princess. The darkest of days, for both of you."_ Kari chuckled to him a little. _"But you will be strong. And this new knowledge will help you. However, you can never tell him of what you know."_

"_I guessed as much, otherwise he would have let it slip in the future already. Everyone is terrible when it comes to keeping my future a secret."_ And how true that was. The only one who seemed to keep things from her was River, their lives were both complicated.

"_Now hurry, my Princess. The Doctor and Rose are worried and becoming suspicious. You know what is to happen."_ He warned her.

"_Oh, I know. Glad to see that after all this time I'm still your princess."_ She replied to the Face of Boe.

"_You will always be my Princess, Kari. Until my last breath."_

She felt him pull away from her mind and she was left alone with Cassandra. The other woman hadn't even noticed that there had been someone else there. _"Word of warning, Cassandra, don't try anything stupid. You've already under estimated me once, best not do it again if you want to live."_

She felt the fear and panic spread through the woman controlling her body. Kari was actually enjoying herself. It was a new experience for her, and she was glad that Rose was not the one to have been taken over.

"There you are." Rose cried, rushing over to her as she entered the ward.

"Come and look at this patient." The Doctor said, taking her by the hand and leading her over to a red man who was suspended in the air. "Marconi's disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced." He told her. "And this one." The Doctor dragged her to another patient. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kill's you in ten minutes, and he's fine."

Kari could feel the presence of a certain life form close to her own mind. Someone was helping her, protecting her mind from being invaded by Cassandra. _"May I ask what you are doing?"_ She called out to him.

"_You will need to communicate with him soon. I am only helping you a little."_ The Face of Boe replied to her.

"_Thank you."_ She whispered to him, leaving him to do what he needed to.

"I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?" The Doctor asked as Rose put her arm through Kari's.

"I can't Adam and Eve it." Cassandra said through Kari's body.

"_Oi! I do not speak like that, thank you very much."_ Kari bellowed to Cassandra, making her flinch a little.

"What's… what's… what's with the voice?" The Doctor asked, giving a worried look to Rose.

"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me."

The Doctor shifted a little uncomfortably. Something was telling him that there was seriously something wrong. "Well, I can talk. New New Doctor."

Kari's eyes wandered over the Doctor's body. "Mmm, aren't you just..." She said, before grabbing hold of him and kissing him. "Terminal's this way." She said, slightly out a breath and walking away from Rose and the Doctor.

"Yep, still got it." The Doctor said, making Rose roll her eyes at him.

"Umm, Doctor…" Rose said, looking a little nervous. "Kari doesn't know yet. That was a little… out of character for her, don't you think?"

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed quietly as they followed Kari. "She isn't herself. Something has to have happened to her."

Once they reached the terminal, the Doctor looked at a map of the hospital. "Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop." He said. "They should have a shop."

"_Geeze, Doctor. Enough with the shop already."_ Kari called to him in his head. He gazed at her, wondering if he had really just heard her speaking to him in his mind.

"No, it's missing something else." Cassandra said, studying the screen carefully and paying no attention to the look the Doctor was giving her. "When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?" She asked.

"You're right. Well done." The Doctor said, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

"Why would they hide a whole department?" Rose asked.

Cassandra just shrugged Kari's shoulders. "Well, it's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame." She told the Doctor.

He glanced at Rose and the both shared a worried look. They knew something was wrong, but they just didn't know what it was. "What if the sub-frames locked?" The Doctor asked her.

"Try the installation protocol." She replied, talking to him as if he was completely thick.

"Yeah. Of course. Sorry, hold on." He said before aiming his screwdriver at the monitor. The whole wall started to slide down, leaving a hidden corridor in its place. "Intensive care. Certainly looks intensive."

The Doctor went to take hold of Kari's hand, but she was already walking down the corridor. "I don't like this, Doctor. What the hell is wrong with Kari?" Rose asked, the fear and worry growing in her voice.

"I really don't know, Rose. But I promise, I will find out and I will get her back." He said, the determination glowing in his eyes. Rose nodded at him and they began to follow Kari down the corridor.

* * *

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long time to update, I really have been busy. I hope you guys liked it. I have big thing's planned for Kari, really big things. You'll all find out soon enough. **

**Secrets will be revealed, truths will be told, and friendships made stronger, or maybe even broken. **

**Have a wonderful new year everyone.**

**Pippa.**


	16. New Earth Pt2

The Doctor and Rose watched carefully as Kari made her way down a staircase, they knew something was wrong but they had no idea what. Cassandra was still feeling scared, her plan had not gone how she had hoped, the mind of the body she took was fighting back and the body wasn't even human.

"_Starting to rethink your little plan are you, Cassandra?"_ Kari asked smugly.

She didn't answer her as they carried on walking long a walkway, filled with pods, illuminated with a green glow. The Doctor stopped and opened one of the pods with his sonic screwdriver.

"That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?" Cassandra asked.

The Doctor and Rose both ignored her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor said before closing the door again.

"What disease is that?" Cassandra asked when he opened the next pod along.

"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything." The Doctor told her, not being able to look at Kari.

"What about us?" Rose asked. "Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them." He told her, closing the door of that pod.

"How many patients are there?" Rose asked, looking over the railings and at the masses of pods lining every floor. It just seemed to go on and on, never stopping.

"They're not patients." The Doctor told them bitterly.

"But they're sick." Cassandra pointed out. Kari was happily watching everything unfold. She knew what was coming, and she had a plan. She just hoped that it would work.

"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm." He spat. The anger was rising in him now. Not just for what was going on with the humans they were using, but because of Kari.

"Why don't they just die?" Cassandra asked, making Kari snort a little.

"_Oh, Cassandra. You really are stupid aren't you?"_ Kari mocked. _"They're the plague carriers, they are always the last ones to die, but eventually they do die. Just like everything in the universe. Everything must come to an end, otherwise nothing would get started." _

Cassandra tried to just ignore her as the Doctor spoke. "Plague carriers. The last to go." He said, repeating what Kari had just told her.

"It's for the greater cause." Novice Hame told them, standing a little away from them.

The Doctor glared at her. "Novice Hame. When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help." She replied.

Kari wanted to push Cassandra aside and shout at Novice Hame. _"Calm, Princess."_ A voice called to her. _"You know the ending of this adventure, do not be hasty."_ He warned her.

She let out a mental sigh, knowing that he was right. She still didn't like the fact that she had to keep her feelings to herself, but what else could she do?

"What, by killing?" The Doctor spat at Hame.

"But they're not real people." Novice Hame said calmly. "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"What's the turnover? Hm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousand? For how many years? How many?" The Doctor growled at Hame, inching ever closer to her.

Novice Hame just looked at him, keeping herself composed and calm. "Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow. So the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"These people are alive." Rose cried in horror, finally understanding what was going on.

"But think of those humans out there, health and happy, because of us." Hame told her, trying to make her see it was for the great good.

"If they live because of this, then life is worthless." The Doctor was trying not to let his anger get the better of him, but his mind was still full of concern for Kari.

"But who are you to decide that?"

"I'm the Doctor." He told her, stepping forward and away from Rose and Kari. "And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, there isn't one. It stops with me."

"_Okay, Doctor. You really need to calm down now. Thing's are going to go from bad to worse."_ Kari called to him, making him look at her out of the corner of his eye. He was sure he had only imagined her talking to him like that before, but now he was certain she was communicating with him.

"Just to confirm, none of the humans in the city actually know about this?" Cassandra asked, looking over the Doctor's shoulder from where she was now standing.

"We thought it best not."

"You know, I can understand the bodies, I really can. I can understand your vows. But the one thing I really can't understand… What the hell have you done to Kari?" The Doctor bellowed, making said woman and Rose flinch a little.

"_Didn't I tell you to calm down?"_ Kari called to him again. _"I'm okay, sort of. It's complicate, just like everything in my life."_

"We haven't done anything." Novice Hame told him.

"I'm perfectly fine." Was what came from Kari's mouth, although it really wasn't her speaking.

"These people are dying, and Kari would care." The Doctor said, pointing to the pods and glaring at Hame.

"Oh, alright, clever clogs." Cassandra said, spinning the Doctor around so that he was now facing her. "Smarty pants. Ladykiller." She said, tugging at his tie a little.

"What's happened to you?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out." She told him, leaning ever closer.

"Who are you?" He asked, worry completely taking him over now.

"The Last Human." She whispered to him.

"Cassandra?" the Doctor asked, not really believing her.

"Wake up and smell the perfume." Cassandra said, pulling it out from where she had hidden it and spraying the Doctor in the face with it.

"_And now, you can get lost Cassandra. You've found out what's going on, so disappear."_ Kari ordered.

Cassandra sniggered. "Oh please. I'm not finished yet." She said, forgetting that Rose was still standing behind her.

"Not finished what?" Rose asked cautiously.

Cassandra quickly spun around to face her. "Oh, you're still here are you?" She said, looking her up and down. "Hmm, you're a pure human. Not the prettiest. But I'm sure you will be less annoying than her." She said, referring to Kari.

"_I am still here you know. And don't you even think about taking Rose's body, because I won't let you."_ Kari hissed at her.

"You've hurt him." Novice Hame called, going and checking the Doctor who was lying on the floor. "I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron."

"You do that, because I want to see her. Now, run along. Sound the alarm!" Cassandra called, watching Novice Hame run off before pulling at a cable, making several alarms blare. "Now, what am I going to do with you?" Cassandra said, forcing a smirk onto Kari's face.

"_I'm warning you, Cassandra, do not touch her."_ Kari growled at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and sprayed Rose with the same thing she that had knocked the Doctor out. Somehow she managed to drag the Doctor into an empty pod, before shoving Rose in with him.

"_Here comes your pet."_ Kari called, noticing Chip coming towards them.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Kari heard the Doctor cry, banging on the door of the pod.

"Aren't you lucky there was a spare? Standing room only. They aren't really designed for two people." Cassandra said, glancing down at the still unconscious Rose at the Doctor's feet.

"You've stolen Kari's body." He growled, the fire burning in his eyes.

"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor, and your precious Kari. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about three minutes left. Enjoy." She said, about to walk away.

"Just let Kari go, Cassandra." He pleaded.

Cassandra stopped and turned back to face the Doctor. "I will. As soon as I've found someone younger, less annoying. Then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushaby. It's show time." She said, walking over to where Matron Casp and Sister Jatt were now standing.

"_Okay Doctor, time to listen to me. Cassandra is not going to 'junk me with the waste', she wouldn't dare."_ Kari told him, ignoring the conversation Cassandra was having. She already knew what was going on, she didn't need to hear it as well, especially not coming from her mouth.

"_Kari? But… how are you doing that?"_ The Doctor asked her in shock.

"_I had some help from an old friend."_ She told him, thinking about that giant face that was upstairs waiting for them to be done. _"Now listen to me, Cassandra is going to cause utter chaos in a minute. Wake Rose up, your going to be running after me."_

"_Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything are you?"_ He asked her, his concern flooding into Kari's mind.

"_Nah, I'm fine. Tougher then I look, you should know that by now."_ She told him.

"Well, nice try. Chip? Plan B." Cassandra said. He pulled a lever and all the pods began to open, including the one Rose and the Doctor were in.

"What've you done?" The Doctor screamed, helping Rose to her feet.

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!" Cassandra called, going to run off.

"_Oh, I don't think so, missy."_ Kari growled in a very low and intimidating voice. Her body froze immediately.

Kari turned around and looked at the Doctor, after having taken her body back from Cassandra for a moment. She gave him a wink as he reached her, hoping that he would understand that it was now her, and not Cassandra.

Their attention was taken elsewhere when they heard Sister Jatt screaming in pain as she died when one of the humans from the pod touched her.

"What the hell have you done?" The Doctor spat at her.

"It wasn't me." Kari protested, clearly he hadn't realised that it was her.

"Once touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra." The Doctor was past angry now, he was fuming, on the verge of becoming the Oncoming Storm.

"I'm not Cassandra!" Kari bellowed. "Stupid bloody Time Lords." She mumbled.

The Doctor and Rose both looked at her with wide eyes. "Kari?" He asked, not daring to believe it was her.

"Yes, now move. Come on, we've got to go down." She said, grabbing his and Rose's hand and dragging them along with her.

"Kari, how are you doing that? What's going on?" The Doctor asked, as they ran down the metal staircase.

"No time to explain, you will find out soon enough." She told him, moving as fast as she could. "Ugh, I'm going to have to let her back, she's poking around too much. Or trying to at least." Kari said.

"_I'm warning you, Cassandra, anything stupid and I push you right out of this body and into one of those poor humans. Do you understand me?"_ Kari said to the woman, who was now back in charge of her body.

"Perfectly." Cassandra muttered. She turned around and glanced at Rose as they carried on moving. "I should have taken your body when I had the chance." She told her.

"What have you done to Kari?" Rose asked her as the dodged a few more of the infected humans.

"I've taken her body. And I have regretted it ever since. If only it had been you, Rose Tyler, who stepped into the lift."

"_You knew what was going to happen?"_ The Doctor called to Kari.

"_But of course, my dear Doctor. And I know how to get us out of here as well. Just keep going."_ She told him as they finally reached the basement.

Cassandra immediately ran for the lift, pushing the call button several times over. "No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving." The Doctor told her.

"This way!" She cried, leading them to where she had taken Kari and her body. Only, on the way, Chip became trapped by some of the infected. She grabbed the Doctor as he tried to go back for him. "Leave him! He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half-life. Come on."

"We're sorry." Rose called back to Chip as they carried on after Cassandra.

"We're trapped. What am I going to do?" Cassandra cried as she tried the back door, only to find it blocked by the infected.

"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet. You're compressing Kari to death." The Doctor said angrily, pointing to the contraption that had caught Kari.

"_No, she really isn't. Haven't you been paying attention?"_ Kari called to him, slightly amused.

"But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin is dead." The woman protested.

"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out. Giver her back to me." The Doctor was doing his utmost best to keep in control of himself.

"_Not good. Doctor, you need to block your mind from her, right now!"_ Kari shouted to him as a warning.

"You asked for it." Cassandra said, before a strange cloud emerged from Kari and went into the Doctor.

"Cassandra, get out of him right now." Kari shouted to the woman who was now in the Doctor's body.

"Oh, my. This is different." Cassandra said, getting used to the new body she now had. "Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used. Oh no, another one with two hearts." She moaned, feeling them both beating.

"Get out of him." Kari ordered, stepping closer to her.

"Oh, he's slim, and a little bit foxy." Before Cassandra could say anything else, Kari had slapped the Doctor's face hard.

"_Sorry. I just wanted her to shut the hell up."_ Kari called, hoping that he would hear her.

"_How are you doing this?"_ He asked her, not sure how he could hear her or why he could talk back to her.

Kari giggled a little. _"I'm brilliant. Isn't that what you're always calling me?"_ She said, before being distracted by some infected people entering the room

"What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?" Cassandra asked in a blind panic.

"Ladder." Rose said, pointing over to a metal ladder on the wall. "We've got to go up."

"Out of the way, blondie." Cassandra said, pushing Rose out of the way.

Kari just rolled her eyes and followed behind them. "Please, help us. Help." One of the infected called to her.

She gave the woman a small smile. "I will, I promise I will help you. By the end of today you will be free and have a new life. I promise." Kari told her. The woman stopped advancing and nodded to her, something that looked vaguely like a smile on her face.

They ended up climbing a life shaft, with no real plan of what they were doing.

"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something." Rose called to the body in front of her.

"Yap, yap yap. Maybe I was better not taking your body. It would probably be hormone city." Cassandra replied, not really caring.

Kari just rolled her eyes again. "Oh, shut up Cassandra." She said, before she felt someone grab her ankle. When she looked down, she saw Matron Casp holding onto her.

"All our good work. All that healing. The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything." The cat hissed at her.

"Go and play with a ball of string." Cassandra called down, watching what was happening.

"Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!" Matron Casp said, before being grabbed herself by one of the infected.

Kari looked down and saw the woman who she had promised to help looking up at her. "Thank you." She whispered, before moving forward again.

They finally reached the door to one of the floors but couldn't get it open. "Now what do we do?" Cassandra asked, the fear running through her again.

"Use the sonic screwdriver." Rose suggested.

"You mean this thing?" Cassandra asked, as she pulled the slim silver tube with the blue light at the end out of the Doctor's pocket.

"Yes, she means that thing." Kari called up, getting slightly annoyed. The infected people were right behind her, but for some reason, they were taking their time to reach her, hesitating. It was almost as if they wanted her to get away.

"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts." Cassandra moaned.

Kari couldn't help but grin. "Come on then, Cassandra. I suppose I will have to put up with you again."

"Hold on tight." Cassandra said, before the strange cloud left the Doctor and went back to Kari.

"Oh lovely." Cassandra moaned from Kari's body. She looked up at the Doctor. "Open it!" She ordered.

"Not till you get out of her." The Doctor demanded.

"We need the Doctor." Cassandra protested, while Kari was just sitting back, laughing away.

"I order you to leave her." He said threateningly, pointing the screwdriver at her. With a heavy sigh she left Kari and went back into the Doctor.

"Oh, for the love of…" Kari moaned. "Cassandra, get the hell out of him right now." Kari ordered.

"But I can't go into you, he simply refuses. He's so rude. And you won't let me take her, not that I'd really want to." She said, looking at Rose with disgust.

"I don't care. Get. Out." Kari ground out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I am so going to regret this." Cassandra said, before leaving the Doctor and landing in the infected woman directly below Kari.

"Oh, sweet Lord. I look disgusting." Cassandra moaned, looking at her hands and arms.

The Doctor managed to get the lift door open and pulled Rose up. Kari was quickly pulled up and into a hug with the Doctor. "Nice to have you back." The Doctor said, beaming away.

Before Kari could say anything, Cassandra was back with her. "That was your last warning, Cassandra!" The Doctor hissed as he closed and locked the lift doors.

"Inside her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched." Cassandra told the Doctor and Rose as she thought back to what she had seen. "But Kari, they trust her. They believe in her. She promised she would help them."

The Doctor and Rose both smiled a little. "Well, that's Kari for you." Rose said, thinking about her best friend and all the times she has helped people and put others before herself.

"Come on." The Doctor said, holding a hand out to help Cassandra up.

They didn't make it far before someone was brandishing something at them in defence. "We're safe! We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look." The Doctor called, showing the woman his hands. Rose done the same, and Kari's hands followed.

"Show me your skin." The woman demanded.

"Look, clean. Look, if we'd been touched, we'd be dead." The woman lowered her make shift weapon and allowed them to enter the ward. "So how's it going up here? What's the status?" The Doctor asked.

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip the signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." She told him.

"You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine." The Doctor warned her.

"_Excuse me, Cassandra, I need my body back for a minute."_ Kari said, pushing the other woman to the side. She didn't seem to protest, in fact, she seemed to be in a world of her own and not really paying attention.

"I am not dying in here." The woman protested.

"We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There are ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off!" Kari shouted before turning to the Doctor and Rose. "Always the rich ones. Think they are better than everyone else, that they have more of a right to live."

"Not if it get's me out." The woman said, still playing with the device in her hand.

"Alright, fine. So we have to stop you lot as well." Kari said, before looking over at the big face in the tank and smiling. _"Mind if I borrow a few things? Not that you really need them, eh?" _She asked the face.

Kari heard him chuckling. _"Take anything you need, Princess."_ He replied to her.

She got started straight away in taking down all the intravenous solutions that were hanging on a stand by his tank.

"Cassandra?" The Doctor asked quietly.

"Kari, actually. So glad you know me so well that you can tell the bloody difference." She mumbled.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, watching her grab as many bags as she could.

"Oh, come on Doctor. Think about it. Why were those poor humans created in the first place?" Kari asked him.

She could have sworn she saw a light bulb suddenly light up above his head. "To cure everything." He whispered. "Oh Kari, you're brilliant." He said, kissing the top of her head before running around and telling everyone else to get as many bags of solution as they could find.

"_Why did you promise to help them?"_ Cassandra asked her as she was hooking the bags onto a rope tied around the Doctor.

"_Because they are alive. They deserve the chance to live. You've lived, you've had a pretty good life, but what kind of life have they had, Cassandra?"_ She asked her.

"_They're so alone. So empty."_ Cassandra told her quietly.

"_Would you wish that life on anyone? You're not the nicest person I've ever met, I'll admit that, but do you really want to see them all die?"_ Cassandra didn't answer her. She couldn't, because she knew that the truth was that she didn't. After being inside that woman's head, how could she want them dead? She felt sympathy for them, she could now understand them.

"Right, I think you're all done now, Doctor." Kari said, hanging the last bag she had onto the rope.

"You okay?" He asked her, holding her by the top of her arms and gently rubbing them.

Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think Cassandra is finally starting to change." She said, shocking the Doctor a little.

"So, are you coming then?" He asked her as they walked towards the lift.

"Yes. I made a promise, and I'm sure as hell not going to break it." Kari said, turning around and calling for Rose. "We're going to need you as well."

The Doctor jumped into the lift shaft, grabbing hold of the metal wire hanging down. The strange wheel contraption he had been holding was now attached to the cable. "Well?" The Doctor said, looking back at Kari. She let a grin spread across her face before jumping and hanging onto the Doctor.

After shifting herself to the side of him she turned back to the blonde haired woman looking at her with wide eyes. "Come on, Rose." She called.

Rose hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes and jumping as well, grabbing hold of the Doctor. 'You're both mad. You know that?" She said, letting out a scared little laugh.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't want us any other way would you, Rose?" Kari said, beaming away at her. _"How you doing there, Cassandra?" _

"_You're completely mad. Both of you. Your perfect for each other."_ Cassandra told her, catching her by surprise.

"_Did you just say something nice?"_ Kari asked her, not able to believe it.

Cassandra didn't get the chance to answer as they were suddenly plummeting down the lift shaft. "Well, that's one way to lose weight." Rose said, unhooking her arms from around the Doctor.

"Now, listen. When we say so, take hold of that lever." The Doctor told Rose as he pointed to it.

"There's still a quarantine down there. We can't…" Rose started to protest.

"Just, hold that lever. We're cooking up a cocktail." Kari said, starting to take some of the bags from the Doctor.

"I know a bit about medicine myself." He said, following her lead and ripping the bags open with his teeth and emptying the contents into the large tank on top of the lift they landed on.

"Oh, do you now, Doctor?" Kari said with a grin. He just flashed her a smile as they carried one.

Once the last bag was empty, Kari opened the hatch that led to the inside of the lift. "Now, that lever's going to resist, but keep it in position. Hold onto it with everything you've got." She told Rose, sitting on the edge, getting ready to jump.

"What about you two?" She asked, not knowing what the plan was still.

"We've got an appointment." The Doctor told her. 'The Doctor is in."

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Geronimo." She said, before jumping down, the Doctor landing right behind her. She took the screwdriver from his hand and used it to open the doors of the lift. "We're in here!" She shouted. "Come on!"

The infected people started making their way towards them. "Pull that lever!" The Doctor called up to Rose as the people got closer to them.

"Come and get us. Come on!" Kari shouted.

"We're in here, come on!" The Doctor called, a smile on his face.

"_Commence stage one disinfection._" The computer called. That was when all the different solutions that Kari and the Doctor had emptied into the tank above them started to rain down.

The first person Kari saw was the woman she had made the promise to. She stepped forward and grabbed hold of her hand tightly. "I kept my promise. Now pass it on." She whispered to her. The woman nodded and smiled before walking away from her.

"Pass it on!" The Doctor cried as more tried to enter the lift.

The solution was healing them, removing every disease they had. Their skin hissed and steamed but when it cleared, they were healed.

"_Hey, Cassandra? Want to do something good for a change?"_ Kari asked, before letting the other woman take control. _"Touch them, give them back their lives."_ She told her.

Cassandra did as she was told and touch anyone and everyone. She hugged the young ones, feeling their happiness. _"A brand new form of life. New humans."_ Kari told her. _"Look at them. Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely alive. You can't deny them, because you helped create them."_

What Kari hadn't realised was that she had told the Doctor as well as Cassandra. She hadn't meant to, she just didn't know that she was doing it.

"The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out!" The Doctor announced happily.

"_So, what do you think now then, Cassandra?"_ Kari asked her.

"_That it's time to change." _ She answered honestly.

A while later, the quarantine had been lifted and the police were taking away the staff. That was when the Doctor finally remembered the reason they had been there in the first place "The Face of Boe!" He cried, dragging Rose and Kari back up to ward 26.

"You were supposed to be dying." The Doctor said to the head in the tank.

"There are better things to do today. Dying can wait." The Face of Boe replied.

"Oh, I hate telepath. Just what I need, a head full of big face. Isn't she bad enough?" Cassandra moaned.

"Shh! Why did Kari let you back anyway?" The Doctor questioned her.

Cassandra just shrugged Kari's shoulders. "I don't know. She didn't say."

The Face of Boe chuckled a little. "I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew."

"There are legends, you know. Saying that you're millions of years old." The Doctor said, looking at the tank.

"There are? That would be impossible."

"_Nope, just a bit unlikely."_ Kari called to him, making him laugh again.

"Wouldn't it just." The Doctor said, a smile on his face. "I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me."

"A great secret."

The Doctor looked at him. "So the legend says."

"It can wait." The Face of Boe told him.

"Oh, does it have to?" The Doctor moaned.

"_He is going to be sulking for days now, thank you very much."_ Kari grumbled to him.

"_Remember what I told you, Princess. He cannot know. There are many struggles to come, but you must stay strong. You know where to find me when you need me."_ He told her softly.

"_I know. If there's one person in the universe I know I can trust that isn't the Doctor, it's you, Captain Harkness." _

"_I haven't been called that for a long time."_

"_Yeah? Well, you're always Captain Jack Harkness to me, no matter what anyone says or how you look. Oh, I can't wait to see the Doctor's face when he realises it's you."_ Kari said excitedly. The look on both his and Martha's face when they found out was priceless.

She heard him chuckling in her head before he began speaking to everyone else again. "We shall meet again, Doctor. For the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day." He then disappeared in a beam of light.

"That is enigmatic." The Doctor said in awe. "That… That is… That is text book enigmatic." He said before turning to face Kari. "And now for you." He said to Cassandra.

"But everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?" She pleaded.

"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra."

"I don't want to die." Cassandra spluttered, pretending to cry.

"No one does." The Doctor told her softly.

"Help me." She begged. He was the Doctor, why wouldn't he help her?

"I can't."

"Mistress!" A voice called, running into the room.

"Oh, you're alive." Cassandra said, looking at Chip.

"I kept myself safe for you, mistress." He announced.

"A body." Cassandra said, thinking. "And not just that, a volunteer."

"Don't you dare!" The Doctor shouted. "He's got a life of his own."

Chip turned to face the Doctor. "But I worship the mistress. I welcome her."

"You can't, Cassandra, you…" The Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence, as a cloud left Kari and went into Chip.

Kari would have hit the floor if the Doctor hadn't have caught hold of her. "You alright?" He asked, trying to keep her steady. She tried to stand up more but only succeeded on almost falling flat on her face again. "Whoa!" The Doctor said, tightening his grip around her waist. "Okay?"

Kari looked up and him and smiled. "Yeah. Hello." She said, holding onto him, never wanting to let go.

"Hello. Welcome back." He said, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, sweet Lord. I'm a walking doodle." Cassandra said, looking at the markings all over Chip's arms.

"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done." The Doctor said, stilling keeping a tight hold on Kari. After everything that had happened, he was not letting her go anywhere.

"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possible my finest hour. And certainly my finest hat. But I'm afraid we don't have the time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life. And he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last…" Cassandra said, just a Chip's body lurched forward.

"Hey, you alright?" Kari asked as she bent down to help her up.

"I'm fine. I'm dying, but that's fine." She answered, looking at Kari sadly. Kari knew what was going to happen, and it would seem that Cassandra had finally accepted it.

"I can take you to the city." The Doctor offered.

"No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore. You're right, Kari. It's time to die. And that's good." Kari could hear the sadness as she spoke through Chip's body.

"Come on." Kari said, helping her up. "I think there is one last thing we can do."

Kari sat and waited in the TARDIS while the Doctor and Rose took Cassandra to see her younger self, to tell her that she was beautiful.

"How you doing?" Rose asked her as she sat down on the chair next to her.

"Me? I'm fine. Always fun having someone try to take over your body and kill everyone and try to blackmail some evil cat nuns." She told her, not really feeling fine at all.

Rose understood exactly what she was saying and wrapped her arms around her. "Cassandra wanted me to tell you something." Rose whispered to her. "She said thank you."

Kari just nodded and hugged her friend back.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Still been ill, which has been a pain in itself, but also had a uni assignment due. But that's all done now! Yay! **

**Okay, so I have one more chapter to go, before things start to get even more complicated for Kari. And I'm please to say, that no one has managed to work out the big secret yet! Which will soon be revealed. **

**I promise to get my head back into my stories, even though I have had requests to put up my other Merlin story (which I am still debating about doing). **

**I love all your reviews, so keep them coming. You are all wonderful and magnificent people. **

**Pippa.**


	17. Time in the Workshop

Rose had already gone to bed, leaving Kari and the Doctor in the console room alone. She had hardly spoke a word since they came back from dropping Cassandra off, and the Doctor was worried about her.

"Come on, what is it?" He asked, plonking himself down next to her on the chair.

Kari just shrugged at him. "Nothing much."

But the Doctor knew her so much better. "Come on, Kari. What's the matter? You've been so quiet, and that isn't like you. You haven't even tried to take us somewhere random. I know there is something seriously bothering you."

"I'm just… thinking, that's all."

"You can talk to me, you know. I'm always here if you want to talk." He told her, putting an arm around her.

"I know. Everything has just happened so fast. I mean, I've never really stopped and just thought about things before." She told him, trying to sort her head out. "How can I have been human, and then become Time Lord? How can I just randomly show up at different points in your life? How can I just easily accept that this is real and this is my life?"

"Is that what this is all about?" He asked her softly. "Listen, I don't know what happened to you. You insist that you were once human, but I have always known you to be you. To me, you have always been a Time Lord. Even the TARDIS tells us that you have always been Time Lord. It's only you who says you were human."

"You'll understand why one day." She mumbled to him.

"You have some sort of connection to the time vortex, I know that much. But I can't explain it any further than that. I'm sorry I can't answer all of your questions, Kari." There was honesty in his tone, he really was sorry.

"I know, it's okay. Its just, I sometimes wonder what my life would be like without all of this." She said, holding her hand out and signalling around the TARDIS. "And without you."

"I am always going to be here, Kari. I am never going to leave you. I promise." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Theta." She knew, that in the future, he was going to leave her, and she didn't want him to feel bad about breaking that promise when he had no choice.

"You called me Theta." He said, a huge grin on his face. "Everything is fine, Kari." He pulled her closer to him and held onto her tightly. He knew how sometimes she would start to feel a little low, but he knew she would always pull herself out of it in the end. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I'm expecting to be pulled somewhere else the moment I start enjoying myself. That's usually what happens." Kari told him, remembering how whenever she was happy, she had to leave.

"Well, we could go anywhere you want. We can go meet Agatha Christie, Shakespeare or Elvis. Oh, I've always wanted to go to the Singing Towers of Darillium. We can go there, if you like?" the Doctor rambled off.

As soon as he said Darillium, Kari tensed up, which didn't go unnoticed. "Kari, what is it?"

"We can't go to any of those places. Not yet at least. Maybe one day you'll go and I'll catch up with you there, but not right now." She told him, thinking about what would happen at the Singing Towers.

"Spoilers?" He asked her, watching her closely. He knew there was a lot more to what was going on than she was telling him, but he knew that she liked to keep things to herself.

"Yup, spoilers." She told him, before falling silent. They stayed like that for some time before Kari spoke up again. "Doctor, if you knew that something… bad was going to happen, and you knew you could stop it, but by stopping it you alter the time lines and change the future, what would you do?"

"It depends on what this something bad is." He told her, hoping to get more information out of her.

"Say, someone was going to die, to save thousands of people. But you knew a way to change it so that they didn't have to die. Would you save them? Or watch them die?" She asked him, trying to keep herself calm as she thought about what would happen in their future and who they would lose.

"Would someone else be taking their place?" He asked her. Kari didn't answer him, she couldn't, because the only way for it to still work would be for someone else to take the place of who was meant to die. "Kari, nobody likes to see someone they care about die. But everyone dies eventually. Even I'm going to be gone one day."

Her head snapped up and she looked at him. "Don't you dare say that." She growled at him. "Don't you ever, ever, say that." She got up from where she was sitting and charged off through the TARDIS.

She only stopped when the TARDIS opened a door for her, one that she had never been in before. Carefully she made her way over to the door and peeked inside. Her eyes widened at the mess she saw within the room.

There were different tools and items scattered all over the place. It looked like a tornado had torn through a DIY shop and this was the devastation that it had left behind. "Well, this is certainly new." She said to herself.

The TARDIS gave a hum and the lights in the room became brighter. She noticed a desk sitting over against a wall and she carefully made her way through the mess to it. "The Doctor's workshop." She muttered as she looked at the blue prints and plans on the table.

Kari suddenly felt a strange urge to open the draw. She put her hand on the handle and hesitated. It wasn't until the TARDIS gave her an encouraging hum that she decided to open it. When she did, she found the draw to be full of broken and damaged sonic screwdrivers.

"Wow, he gets through a lot of these, doesn't he?" She asked, getting a hum for a reply. "Why did you bring me here?" Again, there was a loud hum as a reply.

Kari started pulling everything out of the draw. With some of them, it was easy to see what the damage was, but others looked perfectly fine, until she tried to use them. "I still don't understand what you want me to do. I know absolutely nothing about any of this stuff, this is the Doctor's area, not mine." She told the TARDIS.

Suddenly, Kari felt information just pour into her head, much like it had done when she had been taught how to pilot the amazing and impossible ship. Kari let out a groan when it seemed to stop. "You know, you could have warned me." She moaned to the ship.

"So, I guess you want me to make something now then?" There was a gently hum. "Okay, well, let's start by seeing what's useful and what's complete trash." She said, starting to sift through the items on the desk.

A few hours later she had a pile of what she called 'trash' on the floor beside her, and a collection of different sonic screwdrivers and parts on the desk in front of her. "You know, the Doctor could have easily fixed most of these if he had bothered to try. Rather than relying on you to make him a new one all the time."

She started to fiddle around with one of his old screwdrivers. It looked very much like the one he had now, silver with a blue light at the end. That was when she thought back to who else she knew to have a sonic screwdriver, very similar to his, at some point in the future.

And that was when it dawned on her. "You want me to make a certain screwdriver, don't you?" Kari asked. The TARDIS hummed, confirming her thoughts. "You know, I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm pretty sure I didn't make it in the first place." She protested, but the ship was having none of it and started to hum even louder. "Okay, okay! Fine. No need to get snappy with me sexy. I'll do it."

She sat there for hours, finding all the other parts she needed. "Right, red setting, blue setting, and neural relay data chip." She mumbled to herself and she picked up the soldering iron and started to wield everything together.

It took her several more hours, numb hands and burnt fingers before she finally stopped and put everything down on the desk. "Okay, this is it. Fingers crossed." She said, getting up and picking up the screwdriver as well.

She walked over to a cabinet and hit the button. She heard it unlock and pulled it open. "Okay, works on locks. Brilliant." She said, before moving on to a beaten up computer. She tested it again, and the computer sprang to life. "Fantastic." Kari shouted, jumping up and down.

The TARDIS let out a loud hum of approval and congratulations. "Thanks, but I never would have been able to do it without you." She told the ship. "There's just one more thing that I need." She walked through the workshop and over to where she had earlier seen a mass of wooden boxes.

She picked one up, one that was the perfect size to fit the sonic screwdriver and took it back over to the desk with her. Kari looked at the plain box and frowned. "Engraving. I need to engrave it." Her attention was suddenly taken when one of the cupboards clicked open.

She walked over and pulled the doors open, to find everything she needed to engrave what she wanted to on the box. A smile formed on her face as she took it back over to the desk. "Please let me get this right." She mumbled, biting her lip.

She sat there, deep in concentration as she engraved both of the long edges. On one side she managed to write 'River Song' in the language of the Gamma Forest. On the other Kari worked even harder to engrave 'Melody Pond' in Gallifreyan.

"Hang on, how the hell can do I even know Gallifreyan?" She shouted once she realised what she had done. "Ugh, this is just getting crazier by the minute." She complained.

Kari looked at the box. She had to admit, she was really proud of herself for what she had managed to accomplish over the past few hours. "Well, I've done it. Didn't think I would, but here we are." She said, putting the newly made sonic screwdriver in the box and clicking it closed.

She let out a sigh as she inspected her hands. "Please tell me there isn't anything else you want me to do?" Kari asked, looking at the state of her hands. Sure, she knew they would heal in no time, but they were still hurting her.

Unfortunately, there was something else that the TARDIS wanted her to do. A hum from the ship told her to look in the bottom draw, which Kari reluctantly pulled open. She rummaged through it and pulled out a set of blueprints, for a sonic screwdriver she had never seen before.

"Oh, you are kidding me? You want me to make one from scratch?" She moaned, looking at the amount of work she would have to do to make it. There was another hum and Kari knew that she had to do it. "Fine. But at least let me go and put this box somewhere safe and hidden first. We can't have the Doctor finding it can we?"

Kari picked up the box and headed out of the workshop and towards her room. She wondered exactly how long she had been in that room for, and if the Doctor had been looking for her. She was about to turn into the corridor when she heard voices. She pushed herself against the wall and decided to listen.

"I really don't think she's in there, Doctor." Rose told him gently.

"I upset her, Rose. I need to talk to her. I haven't seen her since last night. She's been missing for around 14 hours now." He told her. Kari was a little shocked that she had been in the workshop for that long. It hadn't felt like that long to her, maybe 4 or 5 hours, but not anything longer.

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Doctor. She's probably just fallen asleep or something. Are you sure you've looked everywhere for her?" Rose asked him in concern. Kari was feeling a little guilty, he was worrying about her and she was fine.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have another look around. But I think she has gone, Rose. I hate her being upset with me, I wanted to talk to her and make things better before she had to go." Kari could hear the hurt and concern in his voice, but she couldn't face him yet, not while she was carrying something for someone he hadn't met yet.

She waited for a few more minutes before they finally moved away from her room and back towards the console room. Kari wasted no time in running into her room and shoving the box into her wardrobe.

Once she was sure it was safe, she opened her door a creak, peeking into the corridor to make sure that it was empty. She was lucky, and made a run back to the Doctor's workshop to make the other sonic screwdriver that the TARDIS wanted her to build.

When she sat down at the desk, she noticed the room was a little tidier, and all the things she needed had been placed neatly in front of her. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Thanks." Kari whispered, looking at the blueprint and the pieces in front of her.

She kept her focus, even if she did curse a few times from hurting her hands some more. After a while, her determination kicked in, and she was not going to rest until it was finished. Kari completely lost track of time, again, not that she really cared.

Every now and again, she would test it, and the orange light at the end would glow and the screwdriver would hum. It was a few hours later when Kari finally passed out from exhaustion. She hadn't left the workshop, so she hadn't eaten or ha anything to drink for longer than she should have.

She was slumped over the desk with the completed screwdriver grasped tightly in her hand. The burns on her fingers hadn't even had a change to begin to heal, and there was plenty of dried up blood around her hands as well. Kari hadn't realised just how hard she had actually worked, and how long she had worked for.

"Kari?" A voice called from out n the corridor. "Kari?" The voice called again, getting closer to the door. It slowly opened, letting out a little creak as it did. "Kari? Are you in here?" The Doctor called quietly, noticing that the light was on in the room.

He stepped in the room and looked around. He noticed that it seemed a lot tidier than he last remembered it. That was when he finally noticed the body slumped over the desk. The Doctor let out a sigh when he realised who it was. "Kari, what are you doing in here?" He asked, looking at the state of her hands and the chaos on the desk.

It wasn't until he went to pick her up, that he noticed the long, slim golden tube in her hand. He gently managed to tug it out of her grasp and turned it over in his hands. He couldn't believe that Kari had made it, it just didn't seem possible. But when he saw the blueprint spread out in front of her, he knew she must have.

Shaking his head, he tucked the screwdriver away in his pocket and gently gathered Kari up in his arms. As he left the room, Rose came around the corner, a worried look on her face.

"Oh my God, you found her? Where has she been?" She asked in a panic, but also relief from seeing her.

"She was in the workshop. I guess she has been there the whole time." The Doctor told her as he carried on walking with Kari in his arms.

"But, what was she doing in there?" Rose wondered.

"I'm not sure, but she's exhausted herself from it." He told her. "I'm going to get her to bed."

Rose nodded at him. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you in a bit then." She knew that he was going to probably stay with her until she woke up now, considering how long she had been missing for.

The Doctor carried on walking, until he came to a room that only Kari ever knew about. The door clicked open and he walked in, setting Kari down on the bed and pulling the covers over her. "You are in a lot of trouble when you wake up." The Doctor told her. "You had me so worried, Kari. You've been missing for almost 3 days."

Kari didn't answer him, she was sound asleep. The Doctor took this as his chance to inspect her hands properly. He let out a sigh when he saw the amount of burns and cuts that covered them. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked, putting her hands down and leaning back against the headboard.

It was a few hours later when Kari finally decided to wake up. She was a little confused as to where she was a first, she couldn't remember ever being in the room she was in before, but she calmed quickly when she saw the Doctor watching her.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, did I fall asleep somewhere?" She asked, rubbing her eyes a little. She quickly looked at her hands and noticed that they looked a lot better than they had done when she finished the screwdriver.

"Yup. Not sure how long you had been asleep for, since you had been missing for 3 days." The Doctor told her casually.

Kari almost jumped of the bed. "I was what? Missing for 3 days? I wasn't missing, I was in your workshop. And I wasn't in there for 3 days." She protested.

The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver he had found in her hand out of his pocket and showed it to her. "Not bad. Considering it was your first one." He told her, looking it over again. He couldn't help but noticed that her name seemed to be carved into the metal, in Gallifreyan. "I take it you had some help?"

Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, she showed me what to do. Streamed all the information into my head. You know, I really wish she would at least warn me when she was going to do something like that." She moaned, looking up at the ceiling. The TARDIS gave a little hum. "I know, sorry." She mumbled to the ship.

"Have you tried it out yet?" He asked her, trying to stop the grin that wanted to spread across his face.

"No. I must have finished it and then fallen asleep. I don't even know if it works at all." She told him, wondering why he wasn't annoyed with her.

"Well? Shall we go and find out?"

Kari just looked at him. "What do you mean? Are you not upset at the fact that I went into your workshop and rummaged through your things before making a sonic screwdriver from scratch?" She asked him curiously.

"Why would I be upset? You know you can go anywhere in our TARDIS, and I was wondering how long it would take for you to start pestering me for your own sonic. I never realised that you were going to end up making one yourself." He told her, letting the grin finally take over his face.

"Wait, are you letting me keep it?" Kari asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Well of course I am. You put a lot of work into it, I'm not going to take it away from you." He seemed a little shocked that she even thought he wouldn't let her have it. "I know for a fact that you're going to use it. A lot."

Kari let a smile form on her face as she watched the Doctor. "Spoilers?"

"Spoilers. Now come on, 3 days is a long time for me to have not seen you. I was worried you had left."

Kari let out a sigh as she remembered the reason for why she had ended up in the workshop in the first place. "I'm sorry for shouting at you and disappearing like that. I just don't like to hear you speaking like that."

The Doctor's face suddenly turned serious. "Kari, I'm the one that should be apologising. I never should have said what I did in the first place."

She just nodded at him, accepting his apology. "Right, so where are we off to then? And what have you and Rose been doing while I've been… missing?" She didn't think she had actually been missing. She was sure that if he had asked the TARDIS, she would have told him where she was.

"We've been searching for you, actually. Something was telling me that you were still here somewhere. Can't believe I never thought to look in the workshop sooner." He moaned.

"Well, you've found me now. So, can we go on some adventures?" Kari asked him, bouncing on the bed a little. "Actually, first you can tell me, who's room is this?"

"Oh… um, yeah." He suddenly turned a little nervous and shifted a little on the bed. "This… uh, this is my room." He told her.

"O… kay. And why exactly am I in your room?" She asked him, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well I couldn't exactly put you in your own room, could I? So I thought I'd bring you here." He told her, trying to get over his nervousness.

Kari shrugged at him before smiling. "Fair enough. So where are we going?" She asked him again.

"Somewhere you can test out your new sonic screwdriver." He told her, before passing it to her.

"Brilliant!" She shouted. "Let's go then." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the bed. Soon she was dragging him through the enormous ship and towards the console room, ready to test out her new device.

* * *

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way. This was meant to be just a little filler, but it ended up having so much more meaning to it in the end. **

**Kari has a sonic! Woohoo! Her collection of gizmos and gadgets is growing. First the psychic paper, now a sonic screwdriver, whatever will she end up with next? Sure, I already know what it's going to be, but do you?**

**Anyway, I am glad to see so many people are enjoying this story. I promise the big reveal is coming up really really really soon.**

**You know how much I love your reviews, so feel free to leave one!**

**Pippa.**


	18. The Pandorica Opens Pt1

**A/N: Sorry again for the long wait for an update, life got in the way again. But I'm working hard to get ahead with my writing now. **

* * *

Rose was standing by the TARDIS, laughing at the couple running towards her. They were both smiling away, clasping the others hand tightly. "Come on you two." Rose called, as they got closer to her. "What am I going to do with both of you? I let you out of my sight for one minute and just look at the trouble you get into."

"Oh, come on, Rose. You can't say that you didn't have fun. That was brilliant." Kari said, as the Doctor opened the door for them.

A smile took over Rose's face. "Fine. It wasn't all bad." She begrudgingly admitted.

"At least we know my screwdriver works." Kari told her, twirling in it her hand proudly.

The Doctor just pushed her into the TARDIS as he opened the door. "Can we please get out of here now?" He wondered, wanting to get away as quickly as they could now.

Kari span around and faced the Doctor. "Aw, come on. We're in the TARDIS now. Any suggestion of where to go next?" She asked as she started darting around the console. They had actually had a really good day, even if she did get them into some slight trouble. But the Doctor didn't actually care, he was proud of her.

She had made her own sonic screwdriver, from scratch, and it worked perfectly. Of course he always knew that she would end up with one, he just never knew she went missing for three days to make it.

"Oh, I know! How about we…" Kari stopped in her tracks when she felt a pounding in her head. She glanced down at her hands and noticed the golden glow starting to grow around her. "Or maybe not." She mumbled.

"Oh, Kari. We'll see you soon, yeah?" The Doctor said, stepping up to her, giving her a quick hug and a light kiss on the lips. "Stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, course." Kari mumbled. She didn't feel much like going anywhere, but she knew she didn't have a choice. "Catch you later, Rose." She managed to call before she was completely taken by the light.

Eventually she heard someone let out a short laugh. "Vavoom." A woman's voice said as she looked at the huge writing on the cliff face. Kari knew exactly where she was, and where they were going next.

"Come along, Pond!" She heard the Doctor call. Kari looked around the corner and saw her favourite blue box. The Doctor disappeared inside of it, followed by Amy.

Kari realised that the Doctor didn't even know she was there yet. "You better not let him leave without me." She warned the TARDIS. That was when she heard the engines grind, the Doctor was trying to leave, but the TARDIS was actually refusing to go anywhere.

She took that as her chance and went over to the box, leaning against it. She knocked on the door, before darting around the corner. "Hello?" The Doctor called, opening the door and looking out.

Kari had to hold in her giggles as the Doctor shrugged and closed the door again. She waited until he tried to make the TARDIS dematerialise again before she knocked on the door again, this time a little louder.

The door was yanked open and a rather annoyed looking Doctor stuck his head out. Kari had to admit, she was enjoying seeing him look so frustrated, but she had to quickly move as he stepped out of the TARDIS and started walking around the box. She ran around the box and jumped over the threshold, charging up to the console.

"Hi, Amy." Kari called, ducking down and out of sight. "Act like I'm not here." She called, poking her head up and then back down again.

"Umm, hey Kari." Amy said, slightly confused.

All Kari had to do now was wait for the Doctor to come back in and close the door. And she didn't have to wait too long. He came back in, grumbling to himself.

"Everything alright, Doctor?" Amy asked, trying her best not to smile.

"Fine. It's fine." He mumbled, plonking himself down in the chair.

"So? Who was outside?" She asked, going and leaning on the railings beside where he was sat.

"No idea. Someone playing pranks." The Doctor said, seeming bored and fed up. Kari reached a hand up to the console and put her hand on the lever, knowing that the Doctor had already set the coordinates. She was all ready to send them off into the time vortex.

Amy just frowned at the Doctor. "Okay, what's wrong?" She asked him, knowing that he was now having one of his many moods.

"Oh, nothing."

Amy smirked at him when she spotted Kari peek up from over the console. "You miss Kari, don't you?" She asked him.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Yeah. That knocking on the door is just the kind of thing she would do." Kari held in her giggles as she pulled the lever she was holding. "Oh, so now she wants to leave." The Doctor grumbled, getting up from the chair and stomping over towards the console.

Kari slowly crept around the console as the Doctor approached, pulling out her sonic screwdriver as she did. She managed to get around to the other side without the Doctor spotting her, she flashed Amy a grin as she went and put a finger up to her lips.

She turned on her screwdriver, and instantly the Doctor's head shot up. "What was that?" He quickly asked Amy.

The red head just shrugged her shoulders. "What was what?"

"I thought I heard something." He said, frowning.

Kari waited a few minutes before changing the pitch on her screwdriver and flicking it on again. "What is that noise?" The Doctor asked, creeping around the console, trying to find the noise.

Luckily Amy sent a warning to Kari, and she managed to sneak out of the way. "Doctor, are you sure you're okay? You're acting a little more weird than normal." Amy asked, trying to act normal.

"Are you telling me you really didn't hear that noise?" He asked, frowning. She just shrugged her shoulders at him and he let out a sigh. "I must be missing Kari more than I thought. I swear I keep hearing her screwdriver."

Kari couldn't take it anymore, it was fun at first, but now she knew it was getting to the Doctor. It was upsetting him, and that wasn't what she wanted to do. She crawled out from where she was hiding and sat down in the chair that the Doctor had been in. Once she was sitting down, she turned her screwdriver on again.

She heard the Doctor let out a sigh, but he didn't bother to look up this time. Kari rolled her eyes and put her sonic screwdriver back in her pocket, knowing that her fun was over. "Oh well, how you doing Amy?" She asked, looking at her friend.

"I'm okay. What about you? What have you been up to?" Amy asked her, glancing at the Doctor who hadn't seemed to notice she was talking to anyone.

"The usual, running, saving the universe. I finally got myself a sonic screwdriver, I actually had to make it myself." She said, waiting for the Doctor to actually notice her.

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor finally looked up at Amy. "We've land…" He trailed off when he spotted Kari sitting in the chair. "Kari?" She just grinned at him and nodded. "Oh, it was you, you little sneak." He said, bounding over to her and yanking her out of the chair and into a hug.

"Well really, Doctor, who else was it going to be?" Kari asked him, knowing that he really couldn't answer her. "Nice to know you recognise the sound of my screwdriver though."

The Doctor let a huge grin take over the whole of his face. "Well come on then. Let's go and see what Doctor Song wants." He said, grabbing Kari's hand and Amy's arm, pulling them outside of the TARDIS.

"Right place?" Amy asked, looking around at where they had landed. They seemed to be on the outskirts of a wood.

"Just followed the coordinates on the cliff face. Earth, Britain. 1.02 am." The Doctor said, looking down at his watch. "No, pm."

Kari giggled a little and looked down the hill and across the field. "My dear Doctor, I believe the correct term you are looking for is AD." She corrected him, looking at the Roman camp before them.

"That's a Roman Legion." Amy said, a little lost for words. Kari just grinned at her, she knew what was coming next.

"Well, yeah. The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period." The Doctor told her, taking a better hold of Kari's hand.

Oh, I know. My favourite topic at school." Amy said, a smirk on her face.

"Invasion of the hot Italians." Both Amy and Kari said, causing them both to laugh.

When they eventually stopped Amy let a frown set on her face. "Yeah, I did get marked down for the title."

"I think it's the perfect title. Amy, I think we have made it to heaven. We are surrounded by hot Italians." Kari said, causing the Doctor to tug on her hand and get her attention.

She turned to him, confusion in her eyes. "So what am I then?" He asked her.

"Well, you're not Italian." Kari told him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. It was similar to what happened with Rose and the Doctor back in 1941. "So I can't really call you a hot Italian, because you're not." She noticed his face fall a little. "But I can call you something else." Kari pulled the Doctor down and whispered into his ear. "A hot Time Lord."

When the Doctor stood back up, his face was red and he was adjusting his bow tie. Amy was in a fit of laughter. "What did you say to him?" She asked when she could finally breath.

Kari just grinned. "Spoilers."

"Hail, Caesar!" A soldier called as he ran up to the trio. "Welcome to Britain. We are honoured by your presence." He said, bowing.

"Well, you're only human. Arise, Roman person." The Doctor said, waving his hand and pretending to be important.

"Why does he think you're Caesar?" Amy whispered to him.

"I really need to get me some hallucinogenic lipstick." Kari said, pointing at the smudged lipstick on the man's face.

"Cleopatra will see you now." The soldier said, before leading them through the camp and towards a certain tent. He bowed before leading us inside.

"Hello, sweetie, darling." River said, lounging about like she owned the place.

"River. Hi." Amy said, looking at the woman, a little in shock.

"You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe." The Doctor said, wagging a finger at River.

"You wouldn't answer your phone." She told him, before looking over at Kari. "And you, well, I couldn't even find you anywhere."

Kari looked at the floor a little sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. Been here there and everywhere, if you know what I mean. You should have tried the psychic paper."

River just frowned at her. "I did. None of my messages got through to you?" She asked curiously. Kari just shook her head. If she had heard something from River, she would have acted on it if it were important. "Well, you're here now." She said, before clapping her hands.

The slaves that had been in the tent left and River held out a roll of paper to the Doctor. "What is this?" He asked her.

"It's a painting. Your friend Vincent. One of his final works." River told him as he started to unroll it. "He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."

"Doctor? Doctor, what is this?" Amy asked, looking at the painting. Kari just let out a sigh as she saw Vincent's interpretation of the TARDIS exploding. "Why is it exploding?"

"I assume it's some kind of warning." River told her, while Kari and the Doctor just carried on looking at the painting.

"What, something's going to happen to the TARDIS?" It was clear that Amy was shaken up, and a little scared.

"It might not be that literal." Kari said, the same time as River, only a lit quieter than anyone would have liked.

"Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?" River said, pointing to the door of the TARDIS in the painting.

"Does it have a title?" He asked, a bad feeling washing over him.

"The Pandorica Opens." Kari said, just before River had the chance to open her mouth. "And before you ask, Amy, it's a box, or a cage, or a prison. It was built to hold the most feared thing in all the universe."

"And it's a fairy tale, a legend. It can't be real." The Doctor protested, pulling Kari closer to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"If it is real, its here and it's opening, and it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding." River said, looking at the Doctor and Kari. Kari just shook her head and grabbed hold of a map and spread it out on the table. "Hidden, obviously. Buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map." River protested.

Kari just turned and grinned at her when the Doctor searched he map. "No, but if you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe, you'd want to remember where you put it." She knew where they would be heading next, and she was actually looking forward to it.

"We need to go right… there." Kari said, pointing to the place where Stonehenge was located.

"All knowing?" The Doctor asked her. All Kari could do was nod at him, she knew where they were going, she knew what was going to happen, and part of it, she really wasn't looking forward to. "Right, come on then, we need to get going."

The four of them rode across the fields and towards the monument. The Doctor and River were both worried about how quiet Kari was being. She was just staring ahead, like she was lost in her own little world.

As soon as they arrived, the Doctor was helping Kari off her horse. That was when she finally came back to her senses and realised where they were.

"How come it's not new?" Amy asked, as Kari, the Doctor and River all started scanning the stones.

"Because it's already old. It's been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long." River told her as she checked back down at her handheld computer.

"Okay, this Pandorica thing. Last time we saw you, the Doctor and I, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium." The red head told her, trying to understand.

"Spoilers." River and Kari both called.

"Seriously, Amy? Have you honestly not figured out how this all works yet?" Kari asked, as she frowned at her friend.

"No, but you told the Doctor you'd see him again when the Pandorica opens." Amy pressed.

River stopped and looked at her. "Maybe I did, but I haven't yet. But I will have." She turned and looked at the Doctor and Kari. "I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site." She told them.

"If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that. Maybe even fight over it. We need to get down there." The Doctor said, looking at Kari carefully.

"What?" She said. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Kari backed away from him a little.

"Kari, I want you to be honest with me. Do you know what is in there?" His tone was very serious, and Kari knew she couldn't lie to him.

She nodded. "Yes. But there is no way I am ever going to tell you, so don't even ask." Kari said, making sure he understood from the look in her eyes that she did not want to talk about it any further.

"Hey, Kari, darling, I need your help." River called to her. After a few more moments of having a staring competition with the Doctor, she walked over to River.

"What's up, River? What do you need me to do?" Kari asked, stuffing her hands into her rather large pockets. Yes, they were bigger on the inside, all of her pockets were now, thanks to the TARDIS.

"I have something to give you." She said, pulling a leather strap out from her own pocket. "You always said you wanted one, and well, I was going to give it to you as a birthday present." River told her.

Kari looked at it, she knew exactly what it was. "This better not have come of the wrist of my handsome Jack." She mumbled.

"Who?" River asked.

"My friend, Jack. He was a time agent." Kari said, inspecting it. "Well, it's not Jack's by the looks of it, and it looks nothing like John's either." She turned it over in her hand and flipped the cover over. "Nope. Definitely not Jacks. That's a relief."

"How many time agents do you know?" River asked her, slight astonished that she knew even one.

"Oh, not that many. I take it you still have your one?" River nodded and pulled another one out form her pocket. Kari took it off her and looked it over. "Nah, you're fine. Not his either. I don't like the thought of someone chopping his hand off to get his vortex manipulator."

"Oh, I've missed your weirdness, Kari." River said, randomly hugging her.

"I've… miss you as well River." She said hugging her back. "Hey! Did you just call me weird?" She called, pushing her away a little. River just grinned at her. "Oh, okay. Fine. Yes, I am weird." She relented. "And thank you, River. This is going to come in pretty handy."

"Kari, you have to be careful. Don't let the Doctor know that you have it." River warned her.

"Oh, believe me, I won't. He'd probably take it off me. Or break it, like he did with Jack's." Kari rambled, going off into her own little world. She had been thinking about Jack a lot recently. Ever since New Earth and the whole business with Cassandra.

She couldn't really explain why. Maybe it was because of what he had said to her, about dark days to come. Kari knew that life with the Doctor was never easy, and always full of danger. But she had accepted that, and she wouldn't want it any other way.

"Kari? Everything okay?" River asked her in concern. She had been standing still and staring into space for almost ten minutes.

She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Me? I'm fine, just thinking of an old friend. Not sure when I'm going to see him again. You know how complicated my life is." River just nodded at her and set about getting down to the Pandorica.

Kari looked over at the Doctor, and saw he was staring at her as well, looking worried. _"One day, Doctor. One day…"_ She trailed off.

"_One day what?"_ She heard him call back into her mind.

She just shook her head. _"Nothing, never mind."_

"_Kari, talk to me. I'm worried about you."_ He told her, not taking his eye away from her.

"_Really, Doctor, it's nothing."_ That was when she realised what she had been doing. _"Hang on, since when could I talk to you in your mind? And how the hell did you get into mine?" _She asked him, panicking a little. She knew things she didn't want him to see, things that he couldn't ever know.

"_One of my tawdry quirks."_ He told her, flashing her a grin. _"You'll understand one day."_ Kari just rolled her eyes at him and went and stood with Amy while he and River got to work.

It was already dark by the time they had finished and everything was set. "Right then, ready?" River asked, before the large stone on the ground began to shift to the side.

"The Underhenge." Kari and the Doctor said together, before heading down. They both had their sonic screwdrivers in their hands to help them light the way. Kari was actually rather proud that hers was producing more light than the Doctor's.

At the bottom of the stairs, they were faced with a large set of doors. The Doctor used his screwdriver to light one of the torchers, while Kari lit the one on the other side. She then helped River and the Doctor remove the long wooden plank that barred the door.

They pushed the doors open, holding the torches, and stepped into the room. What they saw was a large and strange looking box in the room. "The Pandorica." Kari announced as she stepped closer to it.

"More than just a fairy tale." River commented, taking a good look at the box.

The Doctor stepped up to the box and began to inspect it closely, putting his hand against it. "There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked, watching as Kari leaned against the box.

"You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it." Kari said, before the Doctor had the chance to open his mouth.

River just smirked at her. "I hate good wizards in fairy tales."

"They always turn out to be him." Kari said at the same time as River.

"You can talk, darling. You're always the fair maiden that's with him." Kari just shrugged at her, not really caring if that was what she was known as.

"So, it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then?" Amy asked. "Almost the same name." She pointed out.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor asked, trying not to get too distracted with what Amy was saying.

"The story, Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favourite book when I was a kid." She told him, earning a strange look from him. "What's wrong?"

"Your favourite school topic. Your favourite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence." The Doctor said, turning his attention back to the strange box.

"So can you open it?" River asked him.

"Course he can, River." Kari told her. "He is the Doctor after all. Anyone can break into a prison. But he'd rather know what he's going to find first. And my guess is we won't have to wait long, right?"

River nodded at her. "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one."

"Like it's being unlocked from the inside?" Kari asked her. River nodded back at her.

"How long do we have?" The Doctor asked Kari, knowing that she knew so much more than she was going to let on.

"Hours if you're lucky. But don't count on it." She told him.

The Doctor let out a sigh. He just wanted her to tell him everything, but he knew she couldn't. "What kind of security?" He asked.

"Everything." River answered for Kari, seeing her look a little uncomfortable. "Deadlocks, time stops, matter lines."

"What could need all that?" the Doctor wondered.

"What could get past all that?" River said, a slight hint of panic in her tone.

"Think of the fear that went into making this box. What could inspire that level of fear?" He asked, looking directly at Kari. She couldn't look him in the eyes, and that just told him that she knew what was in there. "Hello, you. Have we met?" He asked, resting his head against the box.

"So why would it start to open now?" River asked the Doctor.

"No idea."

"And how could Vincent have known about it? He won't even be born for centuries." Amy asked, as Kari went and stood next to her. Kari had now put her torch in one of the holders while Amy had been forced to take the one the Doctor had lit.

"The stones." Kari told her. "The stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening." Both River and the Doctor turned and looked at her with wide eyes.

The Doctor started scanning the stones with his screwdriver, only to find out that she was right.

"Kari, everyone everywhere?" River asked. Kari just nodded back to her, a grim look on her face as she did.

"Even poor Vincent heard it, in his dreams. But what's in there? What could justify all this?" The Doctor wondered out loud.

"Doctor, everyone?" River asked him, trying to get his attention as well as confirmation of what Kari had said.

"Anything that powerful, I'd know about it. Why don't I know?" He moaned, started to get very frustrated.

"Doctor, calm down." Kari said, walking over to him and placing a hand on his arm. "Everything… everything will be fine." She told him, but actually struggling to believe her own words. There was so much about this that was worrying her. She didn't know what part she was going to play, and that scared her more than facing a fleet of Daleks.

"Doctor, Kari said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?" River asked, her voice breaking a little as she did. She was trying to stay strong, but even she could see it was worrying Kari. And she knew from experience that if Kari was worried, then everyone else should be petrified.

Kari pulled herself away from the Doctor and started doing something to the stones with her screwdriver.

"Oh." He said, realising what was really going on.

"Oh? Oh, what?" Amy asked, still having no clue as to what the trio had been talking about.

"Okay. If it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal." River said, looking at her scanner in her hand.

"Doing it now, River." Kari called, running from one stone pillar to the next.

"Doing what?" Amy asked, getting annoyed that she was the only one who didn't know what was happening.

"Stonehenge is transmitting. It's been transmitting for a while, so who heard?" River informed her.

"Okay, should be feeding back to you now." Kari called, turning her screwdriver off and holding onto it tightly.

"River, what's out there?" The Doctor called, getting more and more worried.

"Give me a moment."

Kari let out a sigh. "At least ten thousand starships. River, you're computer won't even be able to handle the amount that's up there. There's too many readings, too many ships around this planet."

"What kind of starships?" The Doctor asked her.

Before Kari had the chance to tell him, a sound came through River's handheld computer. _"MAINTANING ORBIT" _A familiar voice called through it, echoing slightly in the room.

Amy tensed up in fear. "Daleks. Those are Daleks."

The Daleks kept on talking, while Kari went and stood next to him. She knew just how much he hated them, and why. "Daleks, Doctor." River called, trying to get him out of his little trance.

"Doctor…" Kari called softly, getting him to look at her.

"Yes. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet, minimum twelve thousand battleships, armed to the teeth. Ah! But we've got surprise on our side. They'll never expect four people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battleships." The Doctor said, trying to get his brain to work

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Because we'd be killed instantly. So it would be a fairly short surprise."

"Forget surprise." He said, before something else came through on the scanner. It was a different sound to that of the Daleks.

"Doctor, Cyberships." River told him, looking over at Kari who nodded at her.

"No, Dalek ships. Listen to them. Those are Dalek ships." The Doctor told her.

"Yeah, those are Dalek ships. But these are Cyberships. Daleks and Cybermen, that's the least of our worries." Kari mumbled the last past to herself.

"Well, we need to start a fight, turn them on each other. I mean, that's easy. It's the Daleks. They're so cross."

"Hmm, yeah, because that worked so well last time didn't it? Four Daleks, a whole arm of Cybermen all across the world. We know it wouldn't take long for that fight to be over." Kari said, earning a very fierce glare from the Doctor. "River, what else is out there?"

"Sontaran. Four battle fleets."

"Sontarans! Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?" The Doctor called, turning on the spot. He was getting more and more agitated now.

River continued to look at her scanner and began to read out the other readings she was getting. "Terileptil, Slitheen, Chelonian, Nesteen, Drahin, Sycorax, Haemogoth, Zygon, Atraxi, Draconian. They're all here for the Pandorica."

"What are you? What could you possibly be?" The Doctor asked, getting close up to the box again.

"Come on, outside. Now." Kari ordered. River was the first to follow her, Amy right behind. It took the Doctor a little longer to join them, but eventually he came.

"What do we do?" Amy asked, looking at the amount of ships lighting up the night sky.

"Doctor, listen to me. Everything that ever hated you and Kari is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run." River begged him.

"Run where?" The Doctor asked her.

"Fight how?" She hissed at him, knowing he had no chance against everything that was up there waiting for him.

"Oh, shut up the pair of you. We have something better than the Daleks. Mightier than the Cybermen and frankly a lot more good looking than the Sontarans." Kari called, resulting in everyone looking at her strangely. "Romans."

River couldn't help but let out a little laugh. "Brilliant. I'll take care of that."

"Course you will, River. But just… be careful. Not everything is what it seems. Remember that." She warned her.

River rode off and back to the army of Romans while Kari, the Doctor and Amy headed back inside and down to the Pandorica. "What did you tell River that for?" The Doctor whispered to her.

She shrugged at him. "Just a little bit of advice. Don't worry, it wasn't a spoiler." She assured him.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I had fun writing this one, and it will be different with what happened with Summer in my other story. And we're finally getting to the big secret. In about another 3 chapters, ish. **

**Again, I am sorry for my lack of updates, and the time between them, I"m not so ill any more but I'm back at uni. **

**Now, you all know how much I love your reviews, they really do make me smile. Especially when I check my email in the middle of a lecture and read them. Sure, it gets me into trouble some times, but it makes me smile. **

**I have got the next chapter written, so it will be up at the weekend. Love you all lots and lots!**

**Pippa.**


	19. The Pandorica Opens Pt2

"So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?" Amy asked as the Doctor went back to inspecting the box.

"Nothing, as far as I know." He told her.

"But Vincent's painting. The TARDIS was exploding. Is that going to happen?" The concern was flooding Amy's voice as she spoke.

The Doctor looked at Kari, and again, she couldn't look at him. They both knew that through the cracks, there was an explosion, and through the cracks, the Doctor had a piece of the TARDIS. "One problem at a time. There's force field technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour." The Doctor told Amy, working away.

"What good is half an hour?" Amy wondered.

"There are fruit, live on Hoppledom Six that live for twenty minutes and they don't even mate for life." The Doctor rambled on. "There was going to be a point to that."

"He'll get back to you on it." Kari said, knowing what was going to happen next.

She watched as Amy turned away from her, only to turn back a minute later with the red box in her hand. Inside was a ring. "So, are you proposing to someone?" She asked, looking from the Doctor and to Kari.

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked, not having looked at what she was holding.

"I found this, in your pocket." Amy told him, waving it around as he got up and went over to her.

"No. No, no, that's… er… a memory. A friend of ours. Someone we lost." He said, going to take it from her, only Amy pulled the box away from him at the last minute. "Do you mind?" He asked, holding his hand out for it.

"It's weird. I feel, I don't know, something." Amy said, staring at the ring. Kari could feel a pain in her chest as she saw her friend struggle.

"People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals, rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back." The Doctor told her.

"So, was she nice, your friend?" Amy asked as she handed the box back to him.

"Remember that night you flew away with us?" The Doctor asked her, putting the ring away in his jacket again.

"Of course I do."

"And you asked us why we were taking you, and I told you there wasn't a reason. I was lying." He told her softly.

"What, do you did have a reason?" She asked, looking between the Doctor and Kari.

"Your house." Kari mumbled.

"My house?"

"It was too big, Amy. Too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?" Kari asked her as she gently placed a hand on her arm.

Before anything else could be said, something fired at them. The Doctor grabbed hold of Kari and pulled her behind the Pandorica with him, while Amy went around the other side.

"What was that?" Amy queried.

"Okay, I need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target." The Doctor said, trying to take a peek around the corner.

"How?"

"You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?" He said, not noticing Kari slip away form him a little.

"Yes."

But before the Doctor could say anything else, they heard someone shouting. "Look at me, I'm a target!" Kari called, waving her arms in the air. She narrowly missed being hit by the laser that was coming from the metal arm on the floor. "How was that, Doctor?" she called from her hiding place.

"Don't ever do that again." He shouted, anger and concern battling inside of him. He was not pleased with what she had just done.

"Why? You were going to do it? Anyway, back to the Cyberarm, you know, arm of a Cyberman." She hollered to him.

"And what's a Cyberman?" Kari heard Amy asked.

"Oh, sort of part man, part robot. The organic part must have died out years ago. Now the robot part is looking for… well… fresh meat." The Doctor told her.

Amy looked at him in pure horror. "What, us?"

"Actually, more just you. The Doctor and I aren't compatible for upgrade." Kari called to her.

"Yes, thank you Kari." The Doctor moaned. "I need to get round behind it." He told Amy. "Could you draw its fire?"

"What, like Kari did?"

"You'll be fine if you're quick. It's only got one arm, literally." He told her. Amy gave him a sarcastic smile and thumbs up before running out from behind the box, screaming her head off.

The Doctor jumped on the arm, his sonic screwdriver in his hand as he worked to disable it.

"Doctor?" Amy called, coming out from her new hiding spot.

"Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are, both of you, it could be bluffing." The Doctor said, pointing a finger at both of them.

"Bluffing? It's an arm." Amy scoffed, going to step forward.

"I said stay where you are!" He shouted at her.

"Doctor! Kari!" Amy screamed.

"Amy!" The pair called out together. Before the Doctor could move, the arm electrocuted him.

"Oh no you don't." Kari growled, heading for the arm with her screwdriver in her hand. Only she hadn't anticipated the arm would electrocute her as well and she too passed out, landing half on top of the Doctor.

While the pair was passed out on the floor, the head of a Cyberman was hunting Amy. Something flew out of the head and into Amy's neck. She pulled it out and saw a small dart in her hand. "You will be assimilated." It called to her.

"Yeah? You and whose body?" She asked confidently. That was when the rest of the Cyberman appeared, picking up its head and reattaching it.

She backed away from it, ending up in what looked like a cupboard, the Cyberman still trying to get in. Suddenly a sword was thrust through the door, which then swung open.

"Who, who are you?" She asked, started to feel even more disorientated.

The Roman soldier removed his helmet. "Hello, Amy." He said softly, before having to catch her as she passed out.

It was a little while later when Kari began to stir. "Kari…" Someone called to her quietly.

"Oh, God my head. Never doing that again." She moaned as she opened her eyes. "Oh, hello. Not looking bad, you know, for a dead guy." She said, looking at the Roman version of her friend Rory.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he helped her off the floor.

"Slight headache, but I'll get over it." She said, before smiling at him and throwing her arms around him. "It's so good to see you Rory Williams."

There was a smile on his face as well. "I never thought I'd see any of you again."

"Can't get rid of us that easy. Even by dying." She told him. "Where's Amy?" Rory led her to where Amy was lying on the top of a stone. "You have questions, Rory, best wait till the Doctor get's here to ask them." She told him.

"Sir, the man's coming round." Another of the soldiers called to Rory.

"Kari? Amy?" The Doctor called in a panic. "Where's Kari and Amy?" He said before appearing in the room.

"They're fine Doctor." Rory told him, watching as the Doctor grabbed Kari tightly. "Amy's just unconscious."

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and was about to scan her when Kari just showed him hers. "Okay, yes. She's sedated, that's all. Half an hour, she'll be fine. Okay, Romans. Good. I was just wishing for Romans. Good old River. How many?" The Doctor asked, not letting go of Kari's hand, and not noticing the obvious.

"Fifty men up top, volunteers. What about that thing?" Rory asked, pointing to the Cyberman, pinned to the door.

"Fifty? You're not exactly a legion." The Doctor moaned.

"Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell."

"Yes, I know that, Rory. I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious." The Doctor said, causing Kari to put a hand over her mouth to stop the giggles from spilling out. "But we need everything we can get. Okay, Cyberweapons. This is basically a sentry box, so headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt." He dropped Kari's hand and grabbed the large Cyber gun.

Rory looked at Kari, then to the man beside her. "Doctor…"

"Hush, Rory, thinking. Why leave a Cyberman on guard, unless it's a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own?" The Doctor pondered. Kari had to clamp her hand over her mouth even harder now. "Okay, no, not a Cyberthing, but what? What? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory. Something big. Something right slap in front of me. I can feel it."

The Doctor and Rory were standing extremely close, the noses on their faces almost touching. "Yeah, I think you probably are." Rory said countered. He was amused with the way he hadn't noticed, and even more amused with the way Kari was trying to hold herself together.

"I'll get it in a minute." The Doctor called before walking off with some a large gun in his hand.

Kari couldn't hold it in any longer and let a few giggles escape when she heard the clattering of the gun being dropped. The Doctor walked back into the room and carefully approached Rory. He poked him in the chest, making him rock back on his heels. That was when Kari decided she couldn't hold them in any longer and just burst out laughing.

Rory couldn't help but smile at her, he was used to her laughing and found it all too quiet when she wasn't around.

"Hello again." The Doctor said, trying to ignore Kari in the background.

"Hello."

"How've you been?" The Doctor asked nervously.

"Good. Yeah. Good. I mean, Roman." He replied, pointing to his outfit.

"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you died." The Doctor said. Kari was still laughing away, so the Doctor turned to her and took a hold of her chin. "Kari, stop." He whispered to her, before lightly pressing his lips against her.

That took Kari by surprise and she instantly fell silent, as well as looking back at the Doctor with wide eyes. He tugged at his jacket, straightening it up before turning back to Rory. "Right, much better. Anyway."

Rory cleared his throat. "Yeah, I know. I was there." He said.

"You died and then you were erased from time. You didn't just die, you were never born at all. You never existed." The Doctor pointed out, taking hold of Kari's hand and giving it a quick squeeze.

"Erased? What does that mean?" The Roman Rory asked.

The Doctor kept studying him. "How can you be here?"

"I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?" The Doctor asked, frowning at him a little.

"Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It's very distracting." He told them, before turning his attention to his fiancée. "Did she miss me?" He asked, stroking her red hair.

"Epic speech time." Kari whispered to herself, just as the ground started to shake. The sound of spaceships could now be heard whizzing around outside. "Time to take it up a gear." She said, pulling the Doctor with her back into the room where the Pandorica sat.

There was a green glow in the centre on each side, and you could clearly hear it unlocking.

"What is it? What's happening?" Rory asked as the Doctor scanned it with his sonic screwdriver.

"The final phase. It's opening." Kari told him. "Right, time to get to work, Doctor."

A short while later, the Doctor was lying on the floor by the box, screwdriver in one hand and a communicator in the other.

"_You're surrounded. Have you got a plan?"_ River asked him.

"Yes. Now hurry up and get the TARDIS here. I need equipment." He called to her before hanging. "What are you? They're all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?"

While the Doctor was busy, Kari sent a message on her psychic paper to River. She really did like the woman, and she knew what was going to happen next. "_River, please be careful. Remember what I said. Kari x._" She let out a sigh as she put it away and went to help the Doctor.

"Ugh, that noise out there is worse than your giggles." The Doctor moaned.

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Well go and do something about it then." She said, handing him the communicator.

The trio made their way outside, and the Doctor got himself ready. "Sorry, sorry, dropped it." The Doctor said, after everyone covering their ears from the feedback he had just caused. "Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news, everyone." He jumped up onto the flat rock in front of him. "Because guess who? Ha!"

"Major, epic speech time." Kari whispered to herself. She loved it when the Doctor went into his speeches, and now, actually being there, she loved it even more.

"Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about. It's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I AM TALKING!" The volume of his voice and the tone of it made all the ships that were whizzing about stop and everything fell silent. "The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question. Who's coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me. No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn."

Kari couldn't help but smile, she knew she really shouldn't, but she just couldn't stop it from stretching across her face.

"Oh, and something else. I don't have anything to lose. So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first."

"Nicely done, Doctor." Kari said to him, as the ships seemed to back off and give the Doctor some space.

He smiled at her. "Well, that should keep the squabbling for half an hour, don't you think?" Kari nodded at him, before drawing his attention to all the soldiers around them. "Romans."

The three of them headed back to the room with the Pandorica in. "They're still out there. What do we do now?" Rory asked as the Doctor got back to work on the box.

"If I can stop whatever's in this box getting out, then they'll go home." He told the Roman.

"Right.

Kari's eyes widened when she realised what was coming next. "Oh, umm… Rory, I'm sorry." She whispered to him.

He just looked at her, but the Doctor had realised why she was talking like that. "You're going to have to be very brave now." The Doctor told him, as Amy walked past and straight to the Doctor.

"Oh, my head." The woman moaned.

Kari smiled at her. "Just your basic knock out drops. Get some fresh air, you'll be fine." She assured her friend.

"Is it safe up there?" She asked.

"Not remotely, but it's fresh." The Doctor told her, giving her a small smile.

"Fine." She turned around and saw Rory standing there, watching her. "Oh, you're the guy, yeah? The one who did the swordy thing?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, thanks for the swording. Nice swording." She told him, before walking away from him.

"No problem. My men are up there. They'll look after you." He shouted after her.

"Good. Love a Roman." Amy replied, continuing up the steps and outside.

Once she was gone, Rory turned to the Doctor and Kari. "She doesn't remember me. How can she not remember me?"

"Because you never existed." Kari told him gently. She knew it was going to hurt him, but she knew Amy would remember him, eventually.

"There are cracks. Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it." The Doctor told him, sonicking away at the box.

"So how does that work? What kind of explosion? What exploded?" Rory asked, getting a little agitated.

"Doesn't matter." The Doctor told him, glancing at Kari. "The cracks are everywhere now. Get too close to them and you can fall right out of the universe."

"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?" He asked.

"Basically."

"Well, how did I end up here?"

"I don't know, you shouldn't have." The Doctor said, before stopping what he was doing and walking over to Rory. "What happened? From your point of view, what physically happened?" He asked.

"I was in the cave, with you two and Amy. I was dying, and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman… stuff. A whole other life, just here like I'd woken up from a dream. I started to think it was a dream, both of you and Amy and Leadworth." Rory explained to them. "And then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors. The girl with the red hair and the girl with the golden eyes. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."

"Oh, shut up." Kari said, letting a smile creep onto her face.

"What?"

The Doctor pulled the box with the ring out of his pocket and tossed it to Rory. "Go get her."

"But I don't understand. Why am I here?" Rory asked as he caught the box.

Neither of them really knew what to say, Kari couldn't tell him, and the Doctor really didn't know. "Because you are." The Doctor said eventually. "The universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. Nine hundred years, never seen one yet, but this would do me."

"Now, get upstairs. She's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it." Kari told him, giving him an encouraging smile.

Kari and the Doctor watched as he made his way outside, to get his fiancée back. "I have to admit, Rory does look good as a Roman." Kari said with a smirk.

"Oh? Is that so?" The Doctor asked her, not sure how to take her comment.

She just smiled at him. "Yup. Like Amy and I said, hot Italians, only one thing can beat that on my list." Kari said, sending him a wink, which made him blush. "Aww, you're so adorable when you do that." She reached up and pinched his cheeks a little.

"Oh, stop it. We have work to do." He told her, pulling the communicator out and contacting River. "The TARDIS, where is it? Hurry up." He called to her.

"_Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen."_ River told him calmly. _"They're not real. They can't be. They're all right here in the story book. Those actual Romans. The ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book at Amy's house. A children's picture book."_

The Doctor looked over at Kari who was standing there, chewing on her thumb. "What are you even doing there?" He asked River.

"_It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong. Doctor, how is this possible?" _She asked him.

"Something's using her memories. Amy's memories." He told her, thinking as hard as he could.

"_But how?"_

"You said something had been there."

"_Yes. There's burn marks on the grass outside."_ She told him. _"Landing patterns."_

The Doctor let out a sigh, he could see Kari knew so much about what was going on, and he could see it was worrying her. "If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snap shot of Amy's memories. But why?"

"_Doctor, who are those Romans?"_

"Projections, or duplicates." He said, looking around at them. He reached out and pulled Kari closer to him, she didn't even try to pull away, nor did she say a word.

"_But they were helping us." _River protested. _"My lipstick even worked." _

"They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated."

"_Doctor, that Centurion…_" Kari knew what was coming next, but all she could think about was what was happening above ground between Rory and Amy. _"It's a trap. It has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you."_

"Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense." There was a loud bang from inside the TARDIS. "River? River?" The Doctor called in a panic. "River, what's happening?"

"_I don't know. It's the engines. Doctor, there's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it."_ River called over the noise while trying to regain control of the ship.

"You're flying it wrong."

"_I'm flying it perfectly."_ She shouted. _"Kari taught me."_

He gave Kari a quick glance. "26th of June 2010. That's where River is right now." She whispered, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"You need to get out of there now." He bellowed to River as he watched Kari closely. "Any other time zone. Just go."

"_I can't break free."_

"Well then, shut down the TARDIS. Shut down everything!" The Doctor was getting more and more worried, and more anxious the longer Kari stayed silent.

"_I can't."_ River cried. _"Someone else is flying it. An external force. I've lost control."_

"But how? Why?" There was an ear splitting screeching noise, Kari quickly put her hands over her ears before looking at the Romans, who were now slumped over. "Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now. There are cracks in time. We've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider. The TARDIS exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her."

"_It's not safe._"

"Doctor…" Kari called, looking at the box that was now slowly opening.

"Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?" He asked, looking at the box with interest.

"_Doctor? I'm down. I've landed._" River finally managed to tell the Doctor.

"Okay, just walk out of the doors. If there's no one inside, the TARDIS engines shut down automatically. Just get out of there. Run!"

"_Doctor? Doctor, I can't open the doors._"

"Doctor, Amy's outside with Rory, and a hell of a lot more Autons. But we won't make it that far." Kari said, noticing the ones walking towards them. They grabbed hold of the Doctor and Kari and marched them away from the Pandorica.

"Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?" The Doctor asked as he was dragged along.

The ones that were holding both him and Kari turned around to face the box, but not them. "The Pandorica is ready." Kari whispered, at the same time one of the Romans called. The Doctor looked over at her and saw that she was close to tears.

"What, do you mean it's open?" He asked, wondering why Kari was so upset.

"YOU HAVE BEEN SCANNED, ASSESSED, UNDERSTOOD, DOCTOR, KARI." Slowly the Doctor turned his head around and saw the Supreme Dalek speaking to him. Once he finished, more appeared behind.

"Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?" The Doctor asked, trying to break out of the grip he was in.

"YOUR LIMITS AND CAPACITIES HAVE BEEN EXTRAPOLATED." A Cyberman called, teleporting into the room along with Sontarans, Judoon, Silurian and many others.

Then some Sontarans appeared. "The Pandorica is ready."

"Ready for what?"

Kari held her breath and closed her eyes, she knew what was going to be said next, and she didn't want to hear it. "READY FOR YOU." The white Dalek screeched.

That was when the Auton Romans who were holding onto the Doctor and Kari started to drag both of them forward. With every step, the Doctor struggled, trying to pull away and get free of his captors.

Kari, on the other hand, just seemed to be in shock. She hadn't looked inside the Pandorica, she hadn't seen that there were two seats in this one. She didn't struggle, she just kept her eyes focused forward and tried her best to hold back the tears that were forming. She was scared, and Kari didn't want to admit it.

"You lot, working together. An alliance. How is that possible?" The Doctor asked, as they were both restrained in the box. The Doctor's chair was facing outwards, while all Kari could look at was the inside wall at the back.

"THE CRACKS IN THE SKIN OF THE UNIVERSE." The Supreme Dalek told him.

One of the Sontarans took a step forward. "All reality is threatened."

"ALL UNIVERSES WILL BE DELETED." The Cyberleader announced.

"What? And you've come to me for help?" The Doctor wondered. If he had been able to see Kari, he would see the tears had now begun to stream down her face.

"No. We will save the universe from you!" The Sontaran shouted at him.

"From me?" The Doctor asked. "What about Kari? She hasn't going anything to do with this." He protested, hoping they would let her go.

"ALL PROJECTIONS CORRELATE. ALL EVIDENCE CONCURS. THE DOCTOR AND KARI WILL DESTROY THE UNIVERSE." The Dalek screeched at him.

"No, no, no. You've got it wrong." He protested, pulling at the metal clamps holding him down.

"THE PANDORIC WAS CONSTRUCTED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE ALLIANCE." The Cyberleader called out.

"A SCENARIO WAS DEVISED FROM THE MEMORIES OF YOUR COMPANION." The Dalek was referring to Amy, they had used her memories to trap the Doctor, and apparently, Kari.

"A trap the Doctor and Kari could not resist." The Sontaran called.

"THE CRACKS IN TIME ARE THE WORK OF THE DOCTOR AND KARI. IT IS CONFIRMED." The Dalek continued to explain.

"No. No, no, not me, the TARDIS. And we're not in the TARDIS, are we?" The Doctor carried on protesting, and trying to fight his way out. He had not heard a word from Kari, and that worried him more than anything.

"ONLY THE DOCTOR AND KARI CAN PILOT THE TARDIS."

"Please, listen to me!" The Doctor pleaded.

"YOU WILL BE PREVENTED."

"Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please listen to me." The Doctor cried in desperation.

"SEAL THE PANDORICA." The Cyberleader called. Slowly the box began to close, with Kari and the Doctor inside.

"No! Please, listen to me." The Doctor shouted. "The TARDIS is exploding right now and we're the only ones who can stop it. Listen to me!"

"Forget it, Doctor. They aren't going to let us out anytime soon, so save your breath." Kari muttered. In her mind she was replaying the scenes that she was missing outside and in the TARDIS. Rory had just shot Amy, and River was trapped in an exploding TARDIS.

This was definitely not how Kari saw this adventure going. She had never expected to be locked in the Pandorica with the Doctor, she had not expected the Daleks to even know her name, or that she could fly the TARDIS. Now, all she could do, was wait.

* * *

**A/N: Who saw that coming? Well, I did, obviously. Oh, wait till we get to the end of The Big Bang 2. The big secret that everyone has been keeping from Kari is finally revealed. Sorry for making you guys wait so long. **

**As if Kari didn't have enough to deal with, it just keeps on coming at her. **

**Anyway, thank you to all you wonderful people who have reviewed. I love you all lots. And a thank you to those who have favourites/followed the story. And of course, those of you who are still reading this. **

**Next chapter coming soon. I promise.**

**Pippa.**


	20. The Big Bang Pt1

There was silence in the box, until it slowly began to open, letting the fresh air blow inside. The restraints that were holding Kari and the Doctor in place released.

"How did you do that?" The Doctor asked, seeing the Roman Rory standing there.

"You gave me this." He replied, holding the Doctor's sonic screwdriver up in his hand to show him it.

"No I didn't." The Doctor told him, pulling his one out from inside his jacket.

"You did. Look at it."

The Doctor got out from the box and slowly walked up to Rory. He touched the two screwdrivers together and they sparked. "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future." He said happily. "That's nice." Then he noticed the fossilised Dalek standing in the room. "That's not so nice."

"Doctor, where's Kari?" Rory asked. There was concern in his voice.

The Doctor spun around and looked back at the Pandorica. He thought she would have come out straight after him, but it seemed he was wrong. "Kari?" He called, stepping back into the box and going around to where she was sitting. "Hey, come on. It's time to go." He told her softly.

Kari lifted her head and looked up at the Doctor. Her face was wet from where she had been crying. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I'm really sorry. I knew what was going to happen, I knew the box was for you. I didn't know they were going to stick me in here as well. I didn't even know they all knew who I was. I'm so sorry." She said, all in one breath as she let more tears fall.

"Oh, Kari. It's okay. You couldn't have done anything to stop them." He assured her, gently tugging her up and out of the chair.

"I'm sorry. I should have said something." She whispered to him as more tears fell. Kari had never thought she would feel this way about what had happened. It was never easy knowing what was going to happen, but it was getting even worse for her when she knew things were going differently.

"Hey, come on. You have nothing to be sorry for." The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He had never seen her so upset before, and he could feel his hearts clenching at the sight of her.

"But I could have at least tried. I didn't even try to convince the alliance that they were wrong. I didn't do anything. I was stupid and useless."

"Kari, don't you ever say that. You are brilliant, you always have been. And you certainly are not useless. If it wasn't for you and your brains, I'd have died a long time ago." He told her, trying to clam her down.

"I'm sorry."

"Kari, stop saying that. Everything's okay. Now come on, it's time to save the universe." He told her, kissing the top of her head before letting her go.

"Doctor, what are they?" Rory asked, pointing to all the fossilised Romans in the room with them, as well as the Dalek.

"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were." The Doctor told him, taking a tight hold of Kari's hand as she tried to control herself and calm down.

"Er, what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse." Kari told him quietly. "The universe literally never happened."

He looked at her, the Doctor knew she was upset and blaming herself, but at least she had spoken.

"So, how can we be here?" Rory asked the pair. "What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out." The Doctor told him. He felt someone tug on his hand and looked at Kari.

"We need to see Amy." She whispered to him. The Doctor had only just realised that she wasn't with Rory. He could see the sad look on Kari's face, and he knew something bad had happened, or was going to happen.

They made their way back outside where Amy was lying on the wet and muddy ground, all but dead. "I killed her." Rory cried, as they looked at the red haired woman's still body.

"Oh, Rory…" Kari put her arms around him and gave him a friendly hug. She knew he was hurting, and thinking that he had killed her.

He smiled at her slightly as she soon pulled away. "Doctor, what am I?"

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity." The Doctor told him, paying more attention to Amy.

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory."

"That's the software talking." The Doctor said, checking some results on his screwdriver.

"Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?" Rory asked him calmly. He just wanted Amy to be okay again, and so did Kari.

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time." His tone didn't sit too well with Rory, and Kari was prepared for what was going to happen next.

"The time?" The Roman Rory shouted.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe." The Doctor told him, a smug look on his face.

That was when Rory swung at him, and punched him around the face. "She is to me!" He shouted. Kari had cheered in the background, and was now trying to not go off into a giggling fit again.

The Doctor quickly got himself up off the floor. He let out a little laugh himself before turning to face the man who had hit him. "Welcome back, Rory Williams. Sorry, had to be sure. Hell of a gun arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning."

Rory carried Amy back down and gently placed her into the Pandorica. "So you've got a plan, then?" He asked, watching as the Doctor strapped Amy in and held onto her head.

"Bit if a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and soul." The Doctor explained. "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening."

The Doctor finished what he was doing to Amy and back out of the box. He held is sonic screwdriver out in front of him and turned it on, making the box slowly close with Amy safely inside it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Rory asked in a panic.

"He's saving her." Kari told him quietly. "This box is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape it by dying. It forces you to stay alive."

"But she's already dead." Rory protested.

"Well, she's mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. All it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it will restore her." She was finally starting to pull herself back together. She knew Amy was going to live, she knew how everything was going to plan out. Well, almost everything. There was one thing that was really bothering her, but she didn't want to think about it.

"Where's it going to get that?"

"In about two thousand years." The Doctor told him, taking hold of Kari's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before picking up River's vortex manipulator.

"She's going to be in that box for two thousand years?" Rory asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator." The Doctor told him, putting it on his wrist and doing up the strap with some help from Kari.

"Not River's. You do know it's stolen, right?" She pointed out. "Not Jack's either, I did check."

He just frowned at her before carrying on talking, ignoring her comment. "Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So, hang on. The future's still there then? Our world?" Rory asked the pair.

"A version of it." Kari told him. "Not exactly like the one that you know."

"Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look." The Doctor told him, a little gleam in his eye. "You put your hand there. Don't worry. Should be safe."

"Mostly." Kari mumbled as held tightly onto the Doctor's hand. "A very wrong National Museum, here we come."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Kari knew what he was worried about, his fiancée, trapped in a box for two thousand years.

"She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box." The Doctor assured him.

"Well, you got in there." He pointed out.

Kari wanted to agree with him. "Well, there's only one of me. I counted." The Doctor retorted.

"At this point in time, yes." Kari reminded him. He just frowned at her, he knew that she was still upset and trying to pull herself together, that's why she kept saying these little things.

"This box needs a guard. I killed the last one." Rory said, looking at the Pandorica.

"No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it." The Doctor argued.

"She'll be all alone."

"She won't feel it."

"You bet she won't." Rory was angry, and that didn't happen very often.

There was a sad look on the Time Lord's face now. "Two thousand years, Rory. You won't even sleep, you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad." He told him calmly.

"Will she be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Rory, you…"

"Answer me!" The Roman shouted.

"Yes, she would. We all know she would, Rory." Kari told him softly. She couldn't help but think how lucky Amy was to have Rory. He loved her so much, he was willing to guard the box that held her for two thousand years. He was devoted to her, he would do anything for her. But Kari knew she would never find someone like that. Not anymore, not with the life she led now.

He smiled at her a little. "Then how could I leave her?"

"Why do you have to be so human?" The Doctor asked in frustration.

"Because right now, I'm not."

"Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but you're not immortal. I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible." Kari knew it was almost time to leave and put her hand on the vortex manipulator, ready to go when the Doctor was finished talking. . "Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of…"

Everything around them changed. Kari had to admit, she liked this way of travelling much better than being pulled around and getting headaches.

"…trouble." The Doctor finished his sentence, a little bit later than planned. He looked up and saw Amy standing there with little Amelia. "Oh, ah, two of you. Complicated."

"Complicated isn't the word I would use. More like…" Kari was cut off when they heard a familiar screeching.

"EXTERMINATE. WEAPONS SYSTEMS RESTORING." There was a partially fossilised Dalek, heading straight towards them.

"Come along, Ponds." The Doctor cried, grabbing Amy's hand while Kari grabbed little Amelia.

"EXTERMINATE!"

"What are we doing?" Amy asked as they ran into a different section where the Doctor pulled a fez from one of the mannequins.

"Running into a dead end, where he'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves us not being in one." Kari said, the slightest hint of a grin on her face.

"What's going on?" A mans voice called through the air.

"Get out of here. Go! Just run!" The Doctor shouted as they all hid around the corner and out of sight of the Dalek.

"DROP THE DEVICE." The Dalek ordered to the man holding the torch.

"It's not a weapon. Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste." The Doctor called to the Dalek, trying to save the man's life.

"SCANS INDICATE INTRUDER UNARMED."

The man dropped the torch and let it roll on the ground. "Do you think?" Kari and the man said at the same time. There was a bigger grin on her face now, she loved this bit, she loved what was going to happen next.

The man's hand opened up to reveal a gun, which he then shot at the Dalek.

"VISION IMPARED! VISION…!" The Dalek cried in a panic before suddenly stopping all together.

"Amy!" The man cried, stepping out of the shadows and into what little light was in the room.

"Rory!" The red head cried back, before running over to him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened." Rory rambled.

"Oh, shut up." Amy said, before grabbing hold of him and kissing him.

"Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on." The Doctor said, dragging Kari around with him, and in turn little Amelia.

"I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you."

"No, still shut up." Amy said, grabbing him again and kissing him more passionately than before.

"And break. And breathe. Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years." The Doctor commented, wondering when they would come up for air.

"Oh, come on, give them a break. Two thousand years is a long time, Doctor. We took the short cut, he didn't. Leave them alone." Kari said, defending the couple who were still locked together with their lips.

"Oh, don't you stick up for them." He moaned at her a little.

"Why not? They have every right to… be like that. They've been through a lot together. Rory was erased from time, and Amy didn't remember him. Then the moment she did, he almost killed her which resulted in her being locked in a box for two thousand years." Kari told him, a slightly distant look in her eyes as she spoke. "It just proves how much they mean to each other."

The Doctor looked at her with some concern. He knew that she was right, but there was something in the way she had said it all that made him worry. There was something bothering her, something serious. But the Doctor knew that she would never tell him, especially if it was to do with something that was going to happen.

"I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?" Little Amelia asked, tugging at the Doctor's jacket sleeve.

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?" He replied, frowning at the little girl, putting the fez on her head, only for her to take it off and shoving it into his hands.

"Doctor, the light." Kari said, pointing to the stream out of the box. "The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek."

He smiled at her, before he noticed the Dalek starting to move. "Out, out, out!" He shouted, grabbing Amelia's hand as well as Kari's and running towards the reception. "So, two thousand years. How did you do?" The Doctor asked Rory as he used his sonic to lock the door.

"Kept out of trouble." Rory told him.

"Oh, how?"

"Unsuccessfully." He told the Doctor, who was now holing a mop. "The mop! That's who you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah. Well, no time to lose then." The Doctor said, tapping away at the vortex manipulator still strapped to his wrist. "Kari, you coming?"

She shook her head at him. "Nah, I'm okay waiting here with the Dalek on the loose." There was a smile on her face.

The Doctor disappeared in a blinding flash of light, before reappearing again a second later. "Oops, sorry." He said, shoving the mop stick between the door handles before disappearing again.

"How can he do that? Is he magic?" Little Amelia asked.

"Oh, he's way better than magic." Kari told her, letting a grin take over her face again.

The Doctor appeared back in the reception area. "Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it to Rory two thousand years ago."

As he disappeared Kari just rolled her eyes. She walked up to Amy, put her hand in her top pocket and pulled out the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. "And when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket." She mumbled to herself, knowing that was exactly what the Doctor was saying to Rory.

The Doctor was back, and Kari just held the sonic up in her hand for him to take. He smiled at her, kissing the top of her head as he gently took it. "Right then. Off we go! No, hang on." He stopped at he started heading up the stone stairs. "How did you know to come here?" He asked Amelia.

Amelia pulled out a leaflet for the museum and a post-it note and showed it to him. "Your handwriting, Doctor. Get to it." Kari said, passing him a new leaflet and nudging him towards the desk with the post-it notes on.

After writing the notes he vanished once again, only to come back and shove a drink into Amelia's hands. "There you go. Drink up."

"What is that? How are you doing that?" Amy asked, looking at him oddly as he started to run up the stairs.

"Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up." The Doctor told her.

"Sports car versus space hopper?" Kari asked him, grinning a little. The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her.

"Where are we going?" Amy asked, not understanding anything about what Kari had just said.

"The roof." The Doctor told her, before turning back to charge up the stairs. Only he stopped when a figure appeared at the top, and then fell down. The man's clothes were scorched and it was clear he was hurt.

"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory asked, looking at the man lying on the stairs as the Doctor scanned him with his sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor, is that you?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Me from the future." The Doctor told them, as Kari went and kneeled down beside him. Suddenly the future Doctor's eyes snapped open and he bolted up. He whispered something to the Doctor, before falling back down again.

Kari bent over the man lying there, perfectly still. "Behave. I'll see you in a little while." She whispered to him, before kissing the top of his head.

"You okay Kari?" The Doctor asked her softly, seeing she was a little… distracted. She just nodded back to him, even though she wasn't okay. There was nothing the Doctor was going to be able to do for her, and Kari didn't even know what was going to happen yet.

"Are you… I mean, is he… is he dead?" Amy asked him nervously.

"What? Dead?" The Doctor asked, finally taking his eyes off Kari. "Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good."

"Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?" Amy protested.

"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes." Kari told her. "Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath."

The Doctor just smiled at her. "Exactly. Now come on, the roof." He took hold of Kari's hand and they started up the stairs.

"We can't leave you here dead." Rory called.

The Doctor turned around and faced him. "Oh, good. Are you in change now? So tell me, what are we going to do abut Amelia?" He asked, knowing that she was no longer there.

"Where did she go?" Amy asked looking around.

"Amelia?" Rory called, also looking for her.

"There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing." Kari told them.

Amy looked at her with wide eyes. "But how can I still be here if she's not?"

"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're just hanging on at the eye of the storm." Kari said, tightening her grip on the Doctor's hand.

"But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!" The Doctor shouted, dragging Kari up the stairs with him. "You know what's going to happen?" He whispered to her when they were out of earshot of Amy and Rory.

"Yeah, I know what you're going to do." She told him, letting out a sigh.

"Kari, we will fix this." He told her, taking both her hands and looking deep into her eyes.

"I know." Her voice came out in a whisper, which just concerned the Doctor even more.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Kari shook her head. "Nothing, it's fine. Doesn't matter."

He frowned at her. "How many times do I have to tell you, I know when you're lying? Tell me what's wrong."

"Come on, we don't have time to stand around chatting. We have bigger things to worry about." She told him, just as Amy and Rory caught up with them.

He wasn't happy that she was keeping things from him, but he knew she was right. They made their way through the museum, The Doctor got a hatch open and they all ended up on the roof. The sky was bright with an orange glow.

"What, it's morning already?" Amy asked, looking at the sky. "How did that happen?"

Kari let out a sigh. "History is shrinking. Isn't anyone listening? The universe is collapsing." She said, seemingly a little frustrated.

"We don't have much time left." The Doctor said, kissing Kari's forehead before running over to a satellite dish and using his sonic screwdriver on it. A few moments later he had pulled it from the pole it had been connected to.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked him.

"Looking for the TARDIS."

Rory just looked at him in confusion. "But the TARDIS exploded." He reminded him.

"Okay then, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS." He said, pointing the dish around at different angles. Kari just stood there, staring at the sky, a pain in her chest as she watched the ball of fire.

"I don't understand. So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?" Amy asked him.

"Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So if all the stars that ever were are gone, the what is that?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the big orange ball of fire, burning in the sky. "Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the sun." Rory protested.

"Is it?" Kari asked, turning to face him before pulling out her own sonic screwdriver. "Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now." She turned on her screwdriver and the sound of the TARDIS rang out from the dish. Kari almost let a tear slip down her cheek with the noise she heard. The TARDIS had become her home, her friend. And now she was exploding, being torn apart.

"That's our TARDIS burning up." The Doctor said sadly. "That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

"Doctor, there's something else. There's a voice." Rory told them.

"I can't hear anything." Amy said, struggling to hear what he could.

"Trust the plastic." Rory said, pointing to his ears.

"_I'm sorry, my loves. I'm sorry, my loves. I'm sorry, my loves."_ They could hear a woman's voice calling through the satellite dish now.

"Doctor, that's River. How can she be up there?" Amy asked in shock.

"It must be like a recording or something." Rory said, trying to make sense of it all.

"No, it's not." Kari told them, looking at the Doctor.

"Of course, the emergency protocols. The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion." The Doctor explained as he finally realised what was going on.

"River is stuck in the TARDIS, in a time loop, constantly trying to get the doors open. And when she does, she finds a brick wall before her." Kari told them, not really thinking about it. "And she keeps doing it, over and over again. She doesn't realise she's in a time loop."

"Kari, it's going to be fine." The Doctor assured her, wrapping an arm around her.

"Course it is. Your TARDIS is brilliant, she's keeping River alive until someone can get her out." Kari smiled at the Doctor. "Off you go then. Go and save Doctor River Song. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

Before she knew what was going on, the Doctor had grabbed her hand and activated the vortex manipulator. "Hi, honey. We're home." He said, a big grin on his face as he held Kari against him. She wasn't exactly happy that he had taken her with him without warning her first.

River smiled at the pair before looking down at her wrist, as if checking her watch. "And what sort of time do you call this?" She asked.

"I call it end of the universe time." Kari grumbled, trying to wriggle out of the Doctor's hold.

"Oh, look who's being all grumpy now." The Doctor teased, as she tried to hit him.

"I am not grumpy, thank you very much." Kari told him, evidently sulking a little. "Now, can you let me go, I need to quickly grab something."

The Doctor looked at her in confusion before releasing her from his grip. As soon as she was free, she ran down the stairs and underneath the console. "Did you have to leave it in such a mess down here, River?" She called, almost tripping over some wires.

"Kari, what are you doing down there?" The Doctor shouted, just as she reappeared.

"Nothing, just getting something. Just in case." She told him, not willing to tell him exactly what it was she had fetched. "Now, are we ready to get back to saving the universe?" She asked them.

The Doctor just shook his head at her as the trio disappeared from the TARDIS and ended up back on the roof of the National Museum where Amy and Rory were waiting for them.

"Amy!" River cried in joy at seeing her again. "And the plastic Centurion?"

"Yup, but he's on out side. Love a Roman." Kari said, trying to get away from the Doctor again.

"Really?" There was a sly smile on River's face.

"Oh yeah, hot Italians, second on my list of hotness." Kari said, knowing it would make the Doctor blush.

"And what's first?" River asked her curiously. Before Kari had a chance to reply, the Doctor had put his hand over her mouth.

"_Let's not go into this now, shall we?"_ The Doctor called to Kari in her mind. She just rolled her eyes, knowing that he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of everyone.

River just grinned at the pair, while Amy and Rory looked confused. "I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh." She told them all. Moving the conversation along. "Right then, I have questions, but number one is this." She turned to face the Doctor who had just moved his hand from Kari's mouth. "What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?"

"It's a fez." He told her. "I wear a fez now."

"Fezes are cool." Kari and the Doctor said at the same time, causing them to both laugh a little. Amy wasted no time in snatching it off the Doctor's head and tossing it over the side of the building while River pulled out her blaster and turned it into dust. "Oh…"

"Hey! I liked that fez!" Kari shouted. "Don't worry, Doctor, I'll buy you a new one later." She promised him.

"EXTERMINATE!" The Dalek cried, as it came rising into view.

"Run!" The Doctor shouted, grabbing Kari's had tightly. "Run. Move, move. Go!" He grabbed hold of the satellite dish with his free hand and used it as a shield against the Dalek's laser as it shot at him.

They eventually made it back down the hatch and into the museum where the Doctor used his sonic to lock it.

"Doctor, come on." River urged, waiting at the bottom of the ladder for him.

"Shush." He said, listening to the Dalek outside. "It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now that means we've got exactly…"

"Four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity." Kari said, taking the Doctor slightly by surprise.

"How do you know?" Rory asked, looking between Kari and the Doctor.

"Because that's when it's due to kill him." Kari told him, biting her lip and squeezing the Doctor's hand.

River looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. "Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?" She asked angrily.

"Oh, shut up. Never mind. How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back. How?" The Doctor asked as they walked back through the museum.

"Kari said the light from the Pandorica." Rory pointed out, remember what she had said earlier.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field." Kari corrected him.

"But never mind, call it a light." The Doctor said, smiling at Kari a little. "That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

Amy just looked at him. "Okay, tell us."

"When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except…" He looked at Amy, waiting for her to catch on to what he was saying.

Her eyes lit up. "Except inside the Pandorica."

"The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like…"

"Like cloning a body from a single cell." Kari told them, knowing that the Doctor was going to say it. At that point she wondered how different that adventure was going to be when it came around. Was she going to be with the Doctor, Donna and Jenny, or will she be with Martha? She had no idea. She was more worried about if it would ever actually happen for her now.

"And we've got the bumper family pack."

Rory just shook his head. "No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it."

Kari let out a sigh and turned to face the Roman. "The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it." She told him.

"Do what?" Amy asked.

The Doctor just smiled at her. "Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!"

"Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?" River asked him, clearly not believe that he could do it.

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?" He asked her, knowing that he could do it.

"Well, that would be lovely, sweetie, but we can't because it's completely impossible." She retorted, getting a little more frustrated now.

"Ah no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need." He told her.

"For what?"

"Big Bang Two!" Kari mumbled as the Doctor told River. Both of them had heard her, and turned to look at her. There was something wrong, they knew there was.

"Now listen…" The Doctor said, before turning around and being shot by the Dalek.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The metal monster cried as it rolled forwards.

"Get back. River, get back now!" Rory cried, trying to get everyone out of the way before he shot at the Dalek, making it power down.

* * *

**A/N: And now we are one step closer to finding out what this big secret is. And once Kari knows, well let's just say she had to take some time out. **

**Once again, thank you for all the reviews, they mean so much to me. I'm glad that people are reading this and liking it (even with my irregular updates at times). Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed as well. **

**Keep the reviews coming, and let me know what episode you want to see coming up soon. I did have a list before, which seems to have vanished. But tell me guys and gals, either in a review or PM me. Where should Kari be going? **

**Love to each and every one of you, especially if your still reading this.**

**Pippa.**


	21. The Big Bang Pt2

Kari was at the Doctor's side the moment it was safe. "Hey, come on. It's okay, yeah? You're going to be fine, right?" She told him, her eyes welling up with tears. "I'll see you soon, okay?" She told him, just as a single tear rolled down her face.

He smiled at her, before hitting the vortex manipulator and disappearing. "Where did he go? Damn it, he could be anywhere." River called in frustration.

"He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago." Kari said, getting up from where she had been kneeling on the floor.

"Show me!" The woman shouted, not seeing the upset state Kari was in.

"River, he died." Amy told her. She had noticed the tears on her cheeks.

"SYSTEMS RESTORING. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED." The Dalek cried as it started to come back to life.

"We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life." Rory told them, taking hold of Kari's hand.

"You go to the Doctor. I'll be right with you." River called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the Dalek.

"Kari, are you okay?" Rory asked, as they made their way to the stairs where they had seen the Doctor fall down before dying.

She tried her best to contain herself, and she nodded at him. But Rory knew her better, he knew that she was upset but was doing everything she could not to show it.

"How could he have moved? He was dead." Rory asked, seeing his jacket that he had put over the Doctor lying there, with no body underneath it. "Doctor? Doctor!" He shouted.

"But he was dead." Amy clarified.

"Who told you that?" River asked, coming down the stairs behind them.

"He did." Amy said, looking at the woman.

"Rule one. The Doctor lies." Kari and River said at the same time.

"Where's the Dalek?"

"It died." River told Amy, heading over to Kari and taking her by the hand as they rushed to the room the Pandorica was in. "Hey, you okay, darling?"

"I know what he's going to do, River. And… I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen to me." She admitted, letting a few more tears rolled down her already wet face.

"Everything will be fine, Kari. I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to you. The Doctor would never forgive me if something happened to you." River told her.

"But he can't stop this from happening. He doesn't know what will happen, and neither do I. I don't know everything, River, I only know some details. The time lines are becoming more and more distorted to what I know."

"I promise you, you will be fine." River assured her, just as they reached the room with the Pandorica in it.

"Doctor!" Amy cried, seeing him passed out in the box.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory wondered.

"We were a diversion. As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here." Kari told them, stepping up to the box with River.

"Doctor, can you hear me? What were you doing?" River asked him.

Suddenly, the room became much brighter, getting Rory's attention. "What's happening?"

"Reality's collapsing, have you really not been listening?" Kari shouted in anger, her eyes burning slightly. "It's speeding up. Look at this room."

Amy and Rory both looked around, noticing it was almost empty. "Where'd everything go?" Amy asked.

"History's being erased. Time's running out." River told them. "Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us. Doctor!" She shouted.

"Big Bang Two." The Doctor mumbled, along with Kari.

"The Big Bang. That's the beginning of the universe, right?" Rory asked, earning a slight nod from Kari.

"What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings us back? Is that what you mean?" Amy asked. Again Kari just nodded.

That was when River finally worked out what the Doctor had been trying to do. "Oh."

Kari turned around and looked at the couple watched her. "The TARDIS is still burning, Amy. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the hard of the fire…"

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like he said." Kari told her.

"That would work?" Amy wondered. "That would bring everything back?" There was a little hint of hope in her voice.

"A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history." River clarified, looking at all the wires around the Doctor. "Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work. He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?"

"So he can take it with him." Kari said quietly. "He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion." She pulled out her own sonic screwdriver and started fiddling with some of the wires. "There's still a bit of work that needs doing. I'll… get started with it." She mumbled.

River took a step back, giving Kari some space. "Kari…" The Doctor called to her softly.

"It's okay, I'm here. Just tidying up and little and making sure everything is perfect." She told him, not taking her eyes off the wires that were in her hands.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Doctor. None of this was your fault, it wasn't you who caused the TARDIS to explode. You didn't create those cracks." She replied, still focusing on what she was doing.

"Kari, look at me." She ignored him and carried on still. "Kari, please. Look at me." She turned off her screwdriver and slowly lifted her head up, the tears were flowing down her cheeks now, and she wasn't even trying to stop them. "I'm sorry, Kari."

"Like I said, Doctor, you have nothing to be sorry for." She told him, finally letting their eyes meet. She could see so much sadness in those old eyes of his. So much pain and regret.

"My beautiful, brilliant Kari." He said, reaching out a hand and touching the side of her face. Kari leaned into his hand, feeling the warmth coming from him. "There is so much I want to tell you."

"Then the next time you see me, you can tell me." She said, trying to stay strong. She knew he would make it out of this perfectly fine, as would Amy, Rory and River. But she didn't know if she would.

"Kari, there won't be a next time."

"Yeah there will, course there will." She said, trying to give him a smile. "You forget, I've met you in the future. You have a future, Doctor. And I'll see you there."

"Time can be rewritten." He reminded her.

"Yup, and sofa's can read. It's a big universe." That managed to get a smile from the Doctor. "Nothing is impossible, just a bit unlikely. Remember that."

"Kari…"

"It's speeding up, we haven't got much time left." River said, interrupting whatever the Doctor was going to say.

"Better get Amy, you need to say goodbye to her, Doctor." Kari said, getting up from where she was and walking over to the woman who was standing with her fiancée. "Amy, he wants to talk to you."

"So, what happens here? Big Bang Two? What happens to us?" The woman asked her.

"You all wake up where you ought to be. None of this ever happens and you don't remember it." Kari told her sadly.

"Kari, tell me he comes back, too." She didn't answer her. "River?"

River let out a sigh and saw that Kari wasn't going to answer her. "The Doctor will be at the heart of the explosion."

"So?"

"So all the cracks in time will close, but he'll be on the wrong side, trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born. Now, please. He wants to talk to you before he goes." River told her.

"Not to you?"

"He doesn't really know me yet. Now he never will." River said sadly. Kari took hold of River's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before going to the Pandorica with Amy.

"Hi." Amy said meekly.

"Amy Pond. The girl who waiting all night in your garden. Was it worth it?" The Doctor was struggling to speak.

"Shut up. Of course it was."

"You asked me why we were taking you with us, and I said, no reason. We were lying." The Doctor admitted.

"It's not important."

"Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the universe. It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house, and just you." He told her.

"And Aunt Sharon." Amy reminded him of the woman she had lived with.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody else who lived in that big house?" The Doctor asked her.

"I… I don't…"

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic, it's not your fault." Kari said, wrapping an arm around her friends shoulder.

"I don't even remember."

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone. The girl who didn't make sense. How could we resist?" The Doctor asked her, giving her a small smile.

"How could I just forget?" Amy asked him, still feeling rather scared that she couldn't remember what actually happened to her mother and father.

"Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try." Kari told her softly, knowing that she could and would be able to do it.

"Doctor! Kari! It's speeding up!" River shouted.

Kari took the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and placed it in his jacket pocket. He couldn't help but smile at her, even though she was close to tears again. "There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there." He told Amy.

"How can I remember them if they never existed?"

"Because you're special." Kari told her, not taking her eyes off the Doctor.

"That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back, you can bring them back too. You just remember and they'll be there." The Doctor told her.

"You won't." Even Amy was close to tears now, but for different reasons to Kari.

"You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friends any more. Ha! Amy Pond, crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?"

"Gotcha." He said, getting the tiniest hint of a smile from Amy. "Kari…"

Kari let out a sigh and took a step closer to the Doctor as Amy backed away, leaving them alone. "Doctor, let me come with you, please." She begged.

"No, Kari. I have to do this, alone."

"But… but what about me? What's going to happen to me? I don't belong here. Everyone will wake up where they should be, but what about me? Where am I going to end up?" She asked in a panic. This was what had been bothering her the most. Everyone would have somewhere to be, but what about her? Would she end up back in her garden?

"Oh, Kari. I'm sorry. You'll get to have a normal life." He told her, watching the tears fall once again.

"No I won't. How can I have a normal life? I'm not even human." She told him. "I don't have a home, I have no where to wake up. Please, you have to let me come with you."

"People will remember you. Find them, start a new life."

"Who? Who will remember me? If you never existed, then we never met, I never travelled with you. No one will remember me."

The Doctor just smiled at her. "Jack. Find him. I know he will look after you."

"Please, Doctor. You can't leave me, you can't do this." She didn't know what else to do now. She was petrified, and nothing the Doctor, nor anyone else, could say would help her.

"Go. Live your life, Kari." He said, before the box started to close.

"Doctor! Doctor you can't do this! Please!" She shouted.

"Kari! Get back!" River cried, pulling the woman to the floor as the Pandorica smashed through the wall and headed in the direction of the burning TARDIS.

Kari was huddled up on the floor in tears when River received a message on her handheld computer. "It's from the Doctor." River told the group.

"What does it say?" Amy asked, looking at the state Kari was in.

"Geronimo." Kari and River said at the same time.

In her head, Kari could see exactly what was happening with the Doctor. The trip to space Florida, moving in with Craig, and on the Byzantium. Then he would be a little Amelia's house, telling her a story, the one about the old, new, borrowed, blue box of his.

Then everything went dark. The moment Kari had been fearing the most had arrived. The most likely thing to happen now was for her to wake up in her back garden, on the night that she saw that strange light in the sky. The night the Doctor came. But that was in his future, that would never happen. He would never come for her now.

"Kari! Wake up!" Someone shouted at her, trying to shake her awake.

"Ugh, go away." She mumbled into her pillow.

"Kari, I'm getting married today. You're meant to be my maid of honour. You're not allowed to sleep longer than me. So wake up!" The woman called at her.

Kari rolled over in her bed and finally opened her eyes. She didn't know what to think when she saw the woman standing over her. "Amy?"

"Yes, I'm Amy. Glad you remember my name. Come on, you're meant to be helping me get ready." She cried, grabbing Kari's hand and pulling her out of bed.

"I… I don't understand. This isn't right. I shouldn't be here." She whispered to herself as she followed Amy.

"I'm just going to call Rory. I have this… feeling…" Amy told her. Kari just nodded and she set about getting the things ready to Amy.

"Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?" Amy asked Rory on the other end of the phone. "Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?" She asked.

"_Yep." _Rory answered, while brushing his teeth.

"Are you just saying that because you're scared of me?"

"_Yep."_

"I love you."

"_Yep. Er, I mean, I love you too!"_ He called back, before Amy ended the call.

"Kari, do you feel like something is missing?" Amy asked her seriously.

"Yes. I know something is missing. Or rather, someone." She told Amy, looking out the window and down into the garden. The shed was sitting there, in perfectly good condition.

"Hey, are you okay?" Amy asked her softly, noticing the distant look on her friends face.

Kari turned and smiled at the red head. "Course I am. I'm always okay."

"You're crying." Amy pointed out.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Kari let out a sigh. "Because there is this man, that the universe forgot. No one in the universe remembers him, except for me. And I miss him, a lot more than I should."

"Oh, come on, Kari. I'm getting married today, you're my maid of honour and one of my very best friends." Amy said, putting an arm around her. "This is not a day to be sad."

Kari turned to face her and smiled. "No, you're right. I can't sit here moaning and thinking about things that never happened when I have to get you prepared to marry Rory Williams."

"I'm so glad you're here." Amy told her. "I'm glad you decided to stay in Leadworth."

"Me too." Kari said, not having any clue as to what Amy was talking about.

Kari was sat at the table with the rest of Amy and Rory's family. The ceremony had gone without a hitch, and the whole time she couldn't stop thinking about the Doctor. She really was the only one that remembered him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen. The father of the bride, Augustus Pond!" Someone announced, as Amy's father stood up.

"Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects." He said, holding his speech and a pen in his hands before sitting back down.

"Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me." Amy's mother, Tabitha said. "Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively."

Kari and Amy both noticed River walking past the window outside. Amy quickly stood up and watched the woman walking past.

"Amy? You okay?" Rory asked her, giving her a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She told him before sitting back down again.

"Right. Er, you're crying." He pointed out to her, watching her closely.

She reached up and touched her face. "So I am. Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're happy, probably. Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy." Rory said, a little too enthusiastically.

"No, I'm sad. I'm really, really sad." Amy said, glancing at Kari and noticing that she was close to tears.

"Great." Rory said, feeling a little bit annoyed that his new wife was crying, and not seemingly happy to be his wife.

"Why am I sad?" She asked, before noticing a blue book sitting on the table in front of them. "What's that?"

"Oh, er, someone left it for you. A woman." Rory told her, passing the book to her.

Amy quickly flipped through the book. "It's blank."

"It's a present."

"But why?" Amy questioned, not unable to understand what she was feeling.

"Well, you know the only saying. The old wedding thing, huh?" Amy just looked at him blankly. "Amy, what…" Rory noticed her gaze at Kari, both of them seemed in their own little worlds.

"Ready now." Amy's father said, standing up. "Sorry about that. Last minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year since…" Amy looked around the room at the guests, and certain things drew her attention.

"Bow ties, bracers." Kari whispered to herself, knowing what Amy was thinking now.

"At the age of six and announced that the new head teacher wasn't real because she looked like a cartoon." Amy's father said.

"Shut up, dad!" Amy shouted, standing up and surprising everyone.

"Amy?"

"Amelia?"

"Sorry, but shut up, please. There's someone missing. Someone important. Someone so, so important." Amy said, looking at Kari. She noticed that her maid of honour looked just about ready to have a complete break down.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked her softly.

"Sorry. Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid. I had imaginary friends. They were real." She looked at Kari and gave her a smile, she was one of those friends, and she was there at her wedding.

"Oh no, not this again." Her mother moaned.

"The raggedy Doctor and his golden Angel. My raggedy Doctor and golden Angel. But they weren't imaginary. They were real." Amy said, seeing a slight smile form on Kari's face.

"The psychiatrists we sent her to…" Her mother continued.

"I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home too. Raggedy man, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!" Amy shouted.

The glasses and tables started to shake, just like Kari knew they would. "I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would. Like Kari knew I would. That's why you told me the story of the brand new, ancient blue box." Amy said, just as a strong wind appeared from nowhere. "Oh, clever. Very clever." She said, looking over at Kari, who just had the biggest grin on her face.

"Amy, what is it?" Rory asked, not understanding what was going on.

"Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue." Amy said, watching at the TARDIS materialised in the middle of the room.

"It's the Doctor. How did we forget the Doctor?" Rory asked, looking over at Kari. He had never seen her so happy, but now he remembered why. "I was plastic. He was the stripper at my stag. Long story."

Kari was overcome with nerves. She knew what was going to happen next, and she just couldn't explain why she was feeling the way she was.

Amy climbed over the table and knocked on the door of the TARDIS. "Okay, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?"

The Doctor opened the door, revealing himself and the top hat and tails he was wearing. "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing." He said, before stepping out of the box. "Hello, everyone. I'm Amy's imaginary friend. But I came anyway." He said, making everyone gasp and talk in hushed whispers.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride." Amy said, grinning away.

"Amelia, from now on I shall be leaving the kissing duties to the brand new Mr Pond." The Doctor told her, scanning the room with his eyes.

"No, I'm not Mr Pond. That's not how it works." Rory informed him.

"Yeah, it is."

Rory relented. "Yeah, it is."

"Right then, everyone. I'll move my box. You're going to need the space. I only came form the dancing." The Doctor told them, before heading back into the box.

Kari took this as her moment and hitched up her red dress, before charging out of the room. Amy and Rory both called after her, but she didn't stop, and she didn't look back. She couldn't. She had so many questions running through her mind, and they just wouldn't stop. Everything that had happened since she had met the Doctor, the way he had kissed her. That would have been the last time he saw her, on the Byzantium, kissing her. She didn't know if she was ready to face him yet.

She managed to get outside, and that was where she stayed, hidden away in the shadows as the wedding continued into the evening. Kari knew the Doctor would be dancing with the kids now. His silly dance that Amy would call embarrassing.

"You should be in there, you know." River told her, sitting down beside her.

"No, I really shouldn't. I shouldn't be here at all. I don't even know how I ended up here, River." Kari told her, still staring off into space.

"You're the maid of honour. Shouldn't you be dancing with the best man or something?" River asked her, a smirk on her face.

"I don't do weddings, River. Just like you really."

"Oh, you definitely do weddings, darling. I should know." The woman told her, the smirk growing ever wider.

"All weddings I go to are complete disasters. Always some bloody alien showing up." Kari moaned.

"Just like the alien that showed up here?" River asked her. "Why don't you want to see him?"

Kari let out a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just scared. Neither of us knew what was going to happen to me, and even I don't know still. All I know was I woke up this morning, in Amy's house, with her shouting at me and shaking me."

"Go talk to him. I'll see you in a while." River said, getting up and walking off.

Kari sat there for a little while longer before deciding she needed to face the Doctor. What was the worse that could happen?

She crept back into the building and snuck up behind the Doctor. "Two thousand years. The boy who waited. Good on you, mate." The Doctor said to himself as he leaned against the doorway, watching the newly weds slow dance.

Kari just stood there, she didn't have a plan, she didn't know what to say. Her feet were telling her to turn right back around and run. "It only took the end of the universe for them to finally get married." Kari whispered from the shadows.

The Doctor quickly spun around, his eyes wide and filled with joy. "Kari!" He cried, rushing up to her and grabbing her tightly. He ended up picked her off the ground and swinging her around a little. "Where have you been? Amy said you ran off, why did you run off? Are you okay?" He asked her all in one breath.

"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine. I just needed some time. You know, to think and… stuff." She mumbled, keeping her gaze on her feet when the Doctor finally put her back down and let her go.

"You look beautiful." The Doctor said, his cheeks flushing a little, just like Kari's were.

"Thanks." She mumbled, shifting a little.

"So, how've you been?" He asked her, feeling a little nervous now.

"Oh, you know, same old. No idea how I ended up living with Amy and her family. I just woke up this morning, and there she was, shouting at me." She told him, still not looking up. "I didn't forget you. I was the only person in the whole universe who remembered you. But I couldn't bring you back."

"Well, I'm here now." He told her, wishing that she would just look at him. "Come on, let's go back to the TARDIS." He said, holding a hand out towards her.

Kari shook her head and took a step back. "No. Not yet. I'm not leaving yet."

The Doctor frowned at her. "Kari, what's wrong?"

"River's waiting for you." Kari told him quietly.

"River can wait. Kari, talk to me." He pleaded. But Kari just shook her head at him. "Kari, please…"

"No. I'm not doing this anymore. I am sick of not know who I am anymore. I am sick of just accepting everything without questioning it. I am sick of… of…" A small sob came out from her mouth as she tried to speak.

"Oh, Kari. I'm so sorry." The Doctor told her softly as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She didn't try to get away from him, she just let a few more sobs out. "You know, Rory and Amy aren't the only ones who have waited." He told her, kissing the top of her head. "You've waited long enough. I've waited long enough."

"Doctor, what are you blabbering on about this time?" Kari asked, her voice muffled a little by his shirt.

"There is this… amazing woman, who has always been in my life. Since the very beginning on Gallifrey. And the one thing I never told her, was how much she meant to me." The Doctor said, still holding her tightly. Kari had no idea where any of this was leading, but she was listening. "I should have told her a long time ago, just how important she is to me."

"Very sentimental, Doctor. And here I was, thinking you were useless at weddings." Kari mumbled, making him laugh a little. "Can you get to the point please?"

The Doctor let out a sigh. "I love you, Kari."

She instantly froze. That was certainly not what she was expecting to hear form him. "I'm sorry, what?" She asked, pushing herself away from him a little.

"I should have told you long ago, Kari. I love you." She could see, in his eyes, that he meant it. Now things started to make sense to her. The way he wasn't interested in Rose, what River had told her. The way he was always so comfortable around her, even after losing Rose. Everything just fell into place, like the last piece of a jigsaw.

"No, you don't mean that. You can't mean that." She said, backing away from him a little. "That's really not funny, Doctor."

"Kari, it's the truth. Why do you think I hated you being around Jack? Why do you think I didn't want to save him?" The Doctor asked her.

"I… I don't know. But this is wrong. This can't be happening." She cried, running out of the building again.

She made her way to the TARDIS, where she knew it was parked at Amy's house. "Kari? Kari, what's wrong?" River asked as she spotted her.

"Nothing. I just… I have to go. I have to get out of here." She said in a blind panic.

"Calm down, and tell me what's going on." River said, holding her hands tightly.

"The Doctor. He… he said…" Kari didn't want to say it, because she just couldn't believe it.

River just smiled at her. "He told you didn't he?" She asked.

"Of course, you knew. You always knew. You would have known from the future. How could I have been so damn stupid?" Kari shouted, getting more and more frustrated with herself.

"Hey, come on, darling, calm down. Why is it so bad?" River asked her, not completely understanding the problem.

"Because this, this was never meant to happen. I was never meant to be here. The Doctor was never meant to be with me. He… he was… there was someone else." She told her, not finding the strength to tell her that she was the one he was meant to be with.

"Kari, time can be rewritten. We both know that. And what you see isn't always the truth. Please, just accept what he said. I can't stand to see the pair of you apart." River pleaded with her.

"No, River. I'm sorry. I… I need to get away form here. I need to go somewhere, anywhere. I just need to get away and clear my head." Kari told her.

"Well, you're going to have to wait, the Doctor's here." River whispered to her, stepping up to the Doctor. "Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" She asked him.

"You tell me." The Doctor said, looking over at Kari.

"Spoilers."

The Doctor handed River back her blue diary and her vortex manipulator. "The writing's all back, but I didn't peek."

"Thank you."

"Are you married, River?" The Doctor asked, still looking at Kari.

"Are you asking?"

"Yes."

A smile took over River's face. "Yes."

"No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, or…or… or asking if you were married?" The Doctor rambled. Usually, Kari would have begun laughing by now, but her mind was in turmoil.

"Yes."

"River, who are you?" The Doctor asked her seriously, finally taking his eyes of Kari.

"You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes." She said to him, before turning to Kari. "You know where to find me, darling." And with that, she vanished in a flash of light.

"Kari, I think we need to talk." The Doctor told her, walking towards her.

"Doctor, I can't. I… I need some time to clear my head." She told him. "Just… leave me here for a few days. Please."

"Kari, please talk to me." He begged. Only for her to shake her head. He knew she was stubborn, and he knew he was not going to win this. "Okay, if you want to stay for a few days, that's fine. But at least take this." He pulled a small blue box out from inside his jacket pocket. "It's about time I gave it to you."

Kari took the box from him and gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I'll call you, when I'm ready okay?" The Doctor nodded at her. She could see just how sad he was, and how much he didn't want her to go, but she needed to do this. She needed some time away to sort her head out.

"Make sure you do. I love you, Kari. Remember that." He said, before she nodded at him and turned away, making her way back inside the house.

She charged up to her room and pulled a bag out from under her bed. It was the same bag she had grabbed in the TARDIS when it had been exploding, the same bag River had given her with the perception filter on it. She didn't know why, but something was telling her to take it with her. And now she was glad she did.

She put the blue box in the bag, which already had her laptop, psychic paper, sonic screwdriver and vortex manipulator in it, along with plenty of spare clothes. She pulled out her vortex manipulator and began to do up the straps.

"Where's Kari?" Amy asked as she saw the Doctor standing by the TARDIS, looking up at her house.

"She's not coming."

"You finally told her, didn't you, Doctor?" Rory asked him. The Doctor nodded, which only sent Amy into a state of confusion.

"Told her? Told her what?" She asked, looking between her husband and the Time Lord.

"That he loves her." Rory said, taking a hold of his wife.

"Oh, Doctor. What took you so long? All the times we've all been together, why did you never tell her? Why did you wait till now?" Amy asked. Of course, she and Rory had always known as well, just like River had. They knew a Kari from the future, they knew from that.

Rory laughed a little. "Amy, this is the Doctor. He was too scared. Vampire fish, no problem. An escaped alien convict, easy. Telling a women he loves her, it's the end of the universe."

Kari could take anymore, she hit the buttons on her vortex manipulator and walked away from the window. "I'll see you later, Doctor, Ponds." She hit the last button and was overwhelmed by a bright, white light.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it. One less secret being kept from Kari. Things are certainly going to change for her and the Doctor now. but will it be in a good way or a bad way? Isn't it lucky that River gave her that vortex manipulator. **

**Massive thank you for all the reviews. You guys really do rock. Those little emails that I get totally make me smile. And a thank you for all who have followed/favourited.**

**I've taken your suggestions on board, and I think you will like what's coming up. Fingers crossed. **

**Pippa.**


	22. An Old Friend

I posted this earlier, but there was some error or something and it wasn't showing.

* * *

Kari stood there, waiting for everything to swim back into focus. "I still like this better than being dragged around." She mumbled to herself.

That was when she heard a growling noise, one that seemed very familiar to her, like she had heard it plenty of times before. She slowly opened her eyes to find a creature standing a few feet away from her. She could see the large, sharp teeth it was bearing.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." She moaned, as she carefully took a step back. "Sure, I end up in the right bloody place. But I end up right in trouble as well."

The thing snarled at her, its face wrinkled enough already. "Bloody Weevils." Kari mumbled, still trying to back away from the creature. That was when it lunged for her, and Kari only just managed to duck out of its way in time.

"Come on, where are you?" She asked, looking around the alley she was stuck in. Her attention was taken back to the Weevil when it growled at her again. "Yes, I know. You want to rip me to shreds. I'd much prefer it if you didn't."

The beast paid no attention to her words, although it did seemed to think on them before going for her again. Only this time, Kari wasn't quick enough, and its teeth sank into her arm. She let out a scream of pain and managed to kick the thing off her.

Her hand flew up to where blood was pouring from her arm. Kari didn't know what to do, she was trapped, and unless she was rescued within the next few seconds, she was Weevil food.

Several gunshots rang out through the alley, and the Weevil dropped to the ground. Dead. Kari turned her head and looked at the man standing there, holding onto his gun tightly. "You're late, Harkness." She called to him, before blacking out.

The man only just had enough time to reach her and stop her from hitting the ground. "Kari…" He whispered, gathering her up into his arms. He let out a sigh as he carried her away from the alley and towards a black SUV.

"Christ, Jack. What happened?" A man asked him.

"Get Ianto on clean up. And bandage her arm up." Jack said, carefully putting Kari on the backseat.

"How the hell did she get here?"

Jack looked down at her wrist and saw the vortex manipulator. "That doesn't matter, Owen. Just see to her arm."

Kari could hear people talking in the background. She recognised both the voices, but one more than the other.

"Where do you think she's been?" One of the voices asked.

"I don't know. Last time I saw her in a dress was the day I met her. She had just been to a wedding." Kari knew that was Jack speaking.

"Well, something must have happened again for her to be here." That was when it clicked, and Kari knew that was Owen who was speaking.

"Guys, keep it down. I'm trying to sleep over here." Kari moaned, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

She heard footsteps over a metal grating, they became louder and she realised whoever they belonged to were coming towards her. "How you feeling, Princess?" Jack asked her.

"Like I just got attacked by a Weevil. But hey, you shot it through the head several times." She told him, trying not to open her eyes. She was failing, and her eyes won, opening and focusing on the man kneeling down on the floor in front of her.

"Hey." He whispered to her, smiling that she had opened her eyes.

"Hi, Jack." Kari managed to say, before bursting into tears. She was surprising herself by how many she was shedding. It just didn't seem possible that she could cry so much, and yet there she was, crying some more.

"Oh, come here, Princess." Jack said, taking a hold of her and hugging her fiercely. "Shush, it's okay. Come on, you're okay now." He told her, trying to calm her.

"Jack, everything is such a mess." She whispered to him as she cried.

"Did you have another fight?" He asked her softly, knowing that the main reason for her to get away from the Doctor was because of a fight they had.

"No. Not really. I don't know what to do, Jack, my head is so messed up." She told him. Kari knew she could confide in Jack. She trusted him with her life and she knew he would be there and listen to her.

"Come on, you better come and tell me all about it." Jack said, helping her off the sofa she had been lying on. "Go home, Owen." He called back to the man who was hovering around his workstation.

Jack led Kari into his office, before opening a manhole cover. She didn't hesitate, she half climbed, half stumbled, down the ladder and into what was Jack's bedroom. Kari sat herself down in the middle of the bed and waited for Jack to join her.

"That's a rather nice dress, been somewhere nice?" He asked her as he sat with her.

"Wedding. Two of my best friends got married, I was maid of honour." She told him quietly.

"You're making a habit of coming to see me after a wedding. Is there a reason for that?" He wondered.

Kari looked at him for a moment in confusion before it dawned on her. "Oh, Donna's wedding, then 1941. I didn't plan on visiting you from the last wedding, but this one I did." She told him, holding out her wrist. "I friend of mine got me this. She stole it, obviously, but it meant I could come and see you."

"You going to tell me what happened at this wedding then, Princess?" He asked her, pulling her closer to him.

Kari didn't answer him, she just reached into the bag that was still slung around her. Jack shook his head when he realised it was there. Thanks to the perception filter, he hadn't seen it until now. She pulled out the little blue box the Doctor had given her. She didn't know what was inside, she wasn't sure she wanted to know either.

"The Doctor gave me this." She said, passing it to Jack. "I have no idea what is in there. But I'm pretty sure I can guess."

Jack just looked at the box in his hand. It was small, small enough for a ring to fit inside. "So, why don't you open it and find out for yourself?" He asked her, resulting in her just shaking her head. "Okay, we open it together. Yeah?" He said, placing her hand on the lid and his own over the top. "Ready? One, two, three…" The lid lifted up and the both saw what was inside.

Kari had been right. Inside the box was a ring. It was stunning to say the least, but it didn't make her feel any better.

"So, are you guys getting married then?" Jack asked her curiously.

Kari shook her head at him. "Remember when we first met, and I told you how I never meet anyone in the right order? And then there was that moment when I got really angry with Rose? About everyone knowing something that I didn't?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I remember. Your eyes burned a bright gold when that happened." He told her, thinking back to that day she just appeared on his ship.

"Well, I know now." Kari whispered.

"And are you going to share your findings with the rest of the class?" Jack asked, wondering why she was being so withdrawn and closed off.

"The end of the universe happened. The Doctor was erased from time, and then brought back, on the day of my friends wedding. He… he umm…" She didn't really know how to say it. She had never said that word to anyone before, and she certainly had never expected to hear someone say it to her.

"Hey, it's okay. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." He assured her, seeing that she was struggling.

Kari tool a deep breath, wanting to just get it over with. "He told me he loved me and then I freaked out. I told him I needed some space, that I needed to clear my head. I grabbed my bag and came here. I didn't know where else to go or what to do. I'm sorry, Jack. I don't mean to just drop in on you like this and mess up your life." She rambled.

"Shush, calm down, Kari. You could never mess up my life. I'd have died a long time ago if it wasn't for you." He told her softly, hoping that she would relax a little.

"Yeah, and now you can't die at all. Great job I done there. Keeping you alive forever."

Jack chuckled a little at her comment. "I'm not going to complain. As long as you keep dropping in on me."

"I don't know what to do, Jack." Kari said, letting out a sigh. "Logic is telling me to just get as far away from him as possible. That this is wrong and that I shouldn't even be here. But then, there's part of me that's just… I don't know, screaming to be with him."

"You know, it was pretty obvious how he felt about you when you think about it." Jack told her, earning a very confused look from her. "Well, he didn't like me calling you my Princess did he? He really didn't like me flirting with you. I'd say, he was jealous." Jack concluded.

"That doesn't matter. That's not the problem I have, Jack. I just don't know what to do." She let out another sigh and leaned back into Jack's arms. "This was definitely not in the timelines that I know."

"Well, if you knew all about it, would have ruined the mystery." He told her, trying to cheer her up a little.

"Yeah, you're not funny, Jack." She said, nudging him a little. "What should I do?"

"First of all, I think you need to get some sleep. You were attacked by a Weevil and passed out, so you need to rest. We can talk all this out in the morning. You can stay here as long as you need to, Princess." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks, Jack. You're one of two people I know I can turn to when I need to get away from the Doctor." She told him.

"Oh? And who's the other?"

"A dangerous friend of mine. Even the Daleks beg her for mercy. Not that she shows them any." Kari told him, thinking about what would have happened to the Dalek back in the altered timeline before the universe was rebooted.

"So why didn't you go to her?" Jack wondered.

"Well, for a start, she already knows about this… issue. She told me to just accept it. Plus, I really didn't feel like randomly popping into Stormcage."

If Kari had been looking at Jack's reaction, she would have laughed at him. "Stormcage? What the hell did she do to end up in there?" He asked, still in slight shock.

"She killed two people. A great man and an even greater woman. She's going to be in there for a very long time. But she does break out every now and again." Kari told him.

"Well, you certainly know how to pick your friends." Jack said, trying to get over his shock.

"Oh yeah, I only take the best. And you, Captain Jack Harkness, are number one on my list. Never forget that." She was being honest with him. If there was one person she knew she could always go to, it was him.

Jack just smiled at her. "I'm glad to know I rank so highly on your list. It's because I can't die, isn't it?" He asked her jokingly.

"Oh, obviously. I mean, everyone else is going to wither and die, but you, Jack, nah, you'll always be handsome to me." She said, pinching his cheeks.

They both let out a few laughs, before calming down a little. "It's good to see you, Kari. Especially when you're laughing." He told her, smiling at her. "Now, come on. Get some sleep and we can work everything else out tomorrow. Deal?"

She let out a sigh. She really was exhausted, but she wasn't sure her mind was going to let her sleep. At least she would try. "Better tell you something first, Jack. This is my first visit to Torchwood. Not seen you since the Doctor left me stranded."

Jack just rolled his eyes at her. "Oh great, so I have to introduce you to everyone. Again."

"I've been here before now, haven't I?" Jack just nodded at her. "Spoilers. And anyway, I already know who everyone is. Part of my all knowing power." She told him.

"Thank God for that." He said, getting off the bed and heading to the wardrobe. "Your clothes, my Princess. And bathroom is through there." He pointed to a door at the other side of the room.

"Awesome, I get my own space in your wardrobe. Anyone would think that I lived here." She told him, a little bit excited.

Jack just rolled his eyes at her. "Just get changed and go to bed."

Kari frowned for a minute. "Where are you going to sleep?" She asked him, noticing that he wasn't getting changed himself.

"I'm not. I'll be up in the office if you need me."

Kari bit her lip. "Jack, please don't leave me. I don't… I don't want to be on my own. Stay here? Please?" She asked him quietly.

Jack just smiled at her. "Okay, but no trying it on with me. I don't want the Oncoming Storm coming for me."

"Geeze, I kiss you one time, one time, and you get it into your head that you're all I think about." She said, grabbing a pair of pyjamas out from the draw.

"Are you telling me I'm not?" Jack asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Yes. Now shut up, Harkness."

"Come on, that one kiss was the best kiss you've ever had." Jack teased.

"I would say yes, but there is another kiss that knocks you down to second." She told him, without even thinking about it. It wasn't until the words had left her mouth that it really dawned on her. She was talking about the kiss with the Doctor, the one and only time that they had actually kissed.

"Hey, you okay?" Jack asked, seeing her drift off with a panicked look on her face.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just going to get changed." She quickly rushed into the bathroom and started to get ready for bed. It was weird, being in the Torchwood Three hub. It was weird being there with Jack. But she was used to the weirdness she live with now.

When she was ready she went back into the bedroom, Jack sprawled out on the bed already. "Come on then, Princess. Time for you to get some sleep." He told her, patting the bed beside him.

She rolled her eyes at him some more before jumping over him and onto the bed. "Thank you, Jack. For this, for everything really. If I didn't have you, I really don't know what I would do." She told him as she made herself comfortable next to him.

"I'm always here for you, Kari. Whenever you need me. I promise." He said, before kissing her forehead.

He was so different from the first time they had met. He wasn't trying to flirt with her, although he was teasing her a little. It was like their relationship had found its place. Kari hadn't been through much with Jack yet, but she was looking forward to it.

"Good, because you're never going to get rid of me. I'm going to be popping into your life forever." She mumbled to him as she started to fall asleep.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Princess."

As she fell asleep, her mind kept on working. She kept seeing flashing of things that had happened, things that the Doctor had said.

The first time she met him, in his eleventh regeneration, just after she had regenerated. She went to the wardrobe, and the Doctor followed her. _"But it's been a long time since I last saw you. Am I not allowed to spend some time with my… brilliant Kari?"_

And when they were in the hospital on the moon with Martha._ "Just… the Doctor. And because my wife sometimes talks before thinking." The Doctor said, looking Kari in the eyes. "Now, Kari, my lovely wife, if I move my hand, are you going to behave and not say anything silly?"_

Then there was the way he seemed to be more concerned than usual on the Byzantium. _"Yes, but you should have let me go first, what if it hadn't been safe? What if there had been an Angel just… waiting?" _And then there was the fact that he had kissed her. That did nothing but help with Kari's confusion.

And then with Donna, what he asked her when they were trying to get her to her wedding on time. _"So, have you gotten married since I last asked you?" Kari questioned him, and he suddenly became very nervous._ _"I was only asking if you had gotten married since the last time I asked you if you were married. That's all."_

Jack had been right, the Doctor did seem to be jealous when they had been back in 1941. They way he flew off the handle when Jack had called her his Princess. He seemed to calm down a little when she told him it was early in her timeline. Then there was what he said, _"One day, you're going to understand why I am not happy with you."_

And when he insisted there was nothing between him and Rose. _"This is how I know it's too early. There is nothing going on with Rose. You and her are like sisters, always plotting against me. But I can promise you, there is nothing between me and Rose."_

All these things just kept replaying in Kari's mind as she slept and they weren't helping her at all. Kari just wanted her normal life back, even if it was boring. At least she knew who she was, where she belonged.

When she woke up, she found that Jack had gone, but there was a note left on the side table next to the clock. He was up in office, and the rest of the team would be arriving for work soon.

Kari let out a sigh as she threw her legs off the bed and rested her feet on the floor. "Suppose I better go and face the world." She mumbled to herself, picking some clothes out of the wardrobe. She opted for a blue dress, the colour reminded her a lot of the TARDIS.

Once she was ready, she made her way up the ladder and into Jack's office. When she looked around, she noticed that he wasn't there, but she could hear voices coming from outside.

"So do you know what happened yet, Jack?" Owen asked him, as Kari listened at the door.

"Yes. But I'm not going to talk about it. It's not my place." Jack told him.

"She okay? I mean, she was attacked by a Weevil." There was a hint of concern in Owen's voice.

Kari let out a sigh and decided to show her face. "I'm absolutely fine, Owen. You know me, I heal quickly." She told him, showing him her now completely healed arm.

He didn't want to take her word for it and had a look at her arm himself. "Yeah, you're okay." He told her, before pulling her into a hug. "Nice of you to drop in."

"Thought it was time to come and see my handsome Jack. And the rest of you, of course." Kari told him when he finally let her go. "Where's Ianto? I could murder a coffee." She had always been curious as to whether his really was the best in the universe, now was the perfect time to find out.

"He'll be back in a while. I just sent him out on a few errands. Lucky for you, I got him to make you one before he left." Jack said, passing a Kari a blue mug.

"Awesome!" Kari cried, taking it from him with a huge grin on her face. She took her first sip of it and her eyes lit up. "Ah, definitely the best coffee in the entire universe. Ever." She commented.

Jack gave a laugh while Owen rolled his eyes. "Come on you, we need to talk still." Jack told her, taking her by the hand and dragging her back over to the sofa in the rec room. "So, how you feeling this morning?"

Kari just shrugged her shoulders at him. "Been better."

"What are you going to do then, Princess?" He asked, draping his arm over her shoulder.

"I don't know. I thought about what you said, about it being obvious, and you were right. There have been things, like little hints, since I first met him." She told him. "But I still don't know what to do."

"You need to do whatever feels right for you. Give it a few days, I'm sure you will work it all out." Jack told her, holding her close to him.

"I really hate my life sometimes, Jack. It just goes from one complication to the next." She told him as she leaned against him.

"I know, Princess. But you're strong, you'll get through this."

"Did you know?" Kari asked him after a few minutes of silence. "I've been here before, so did you know then? Because that would have been after this time."

He let out a sigh. "Yes. I already knew. But don't expect me to tell you what you do, that's for you to decide."

Kari laughed a little. "Spoilers, right?"

He smiled at her. "Spoilers. Come on, might as well let the others know you are here. Oh, Gwen's only just started, so go easy on her."

"Yes, sir!" Kari said, saluting to him as she stood up.

"Hey, that's Captain to you." He said, forcing her arm through his. "Tosh, is Ianto back yet?" He called as they walked across the hub and over to her desk.

"Yeah, he just got back. Why did you send him out to…" She stopped the moment she saw Kari hanging onto his arm. "Kari." The woman cried, getting out of her chair and pulling her away from Jack to hug her. "When did you get here?"

"Last night. Harkness was a little late in meeting me, got slightly mauled by a Weevil." She told her once she let her go. "But all good now."

"Hey, in my defence I didn't know you were going to arrive last night." He said, holding up his hands.

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Next time, I'll call ahead, yeah?"

"You know, that would actually be nice." He told her with a smile on his face. "Ianto, get over here."

A moment later, a man walked over, a grin on his face. "You're finally awake then, Kari. I hope Jack didn't drink your coffee I made for you?"

"Oh, he knows what would happen to him if he ever touched my cup. You make the best coffee in the universe, trust me." Kari told him, pulling him in for a hug.

"You may have mentioned that before. I've set it all in the boardroom, Jack." He told his boss.

Kari had a slight suspicion that they were up to something. She could just tell by the looks on their faces. They weren't innocent at all, they were plotting something.

"Great, thanks. Tosh, get on to Owen and Gwen, tell them to get back here as soon as they can." Tosh nodded at him and got straight to work.

"Okay, out with it, Harkness. What the hell are you up to?" Kari asked him, her hands on her hips.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Now, I'm sure you can find something to do till the other two get back. So, off you go." He said, pushing her towards his office.

Kari let out a sigh, they were definitely up to something. "Sure, fine. I've got my laptop with me. I guess I can fill in a few details."

She headed into Jack's room and grabbed her bag. Once she had her laptop she made herself comfortable in Jack's office. "Right then, let's see how well you work when we're not in the TARDIS." She mumbled to herself as she switched it on.

She done what she needed to do first, wrote up what episodes had happened, and how they had been different. It actually took her some time, there was a lot to fill in. She even decided to put in what the Doctor had said to her, and where she now was.

After that, she just stared at the screen blankly. "Okay, I wonder exactly how secure the Torchwood network is." She whispered, before typing away furiously.

A few minutes later, she closed the lid on her laptop, and crept over to the door. She pulled it open a crack and saw Tosh still sitting at her workstation. All of a sudden, Moonlight Serenade started playing on every single computer in the hub. And anything else that was connected to the network and had a speaker.

Kari cracked up laughing, but tried her best to muffle the sound with her hands.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack shouted, coming into Kari's view.

"I don't know. The system has been attack. Someone got in and bypassed every single piece of security we have." Tosh said in a fluster.

"Wait a second. I know that song." Jack said, listening to the music. He looked over towards the office and Kari quickly shut the door and ran back to the desk.

The door flew open and Jack stood there, arms folded across his chest, a slight grin on his face. "Everything okay, Jack?" Kari asked, pretending to be reading a book.

"Care to explain why our song is playing throughout the whole of the hub?" He asked, not moving from where she was standing.

"What song? We have a song? When did we get that?" She asked him, putting the book down and looking shocked.

Jack just walked over to her, grabbed her hand, and led her out of the office. The song was still filling the air, and Kari had to keep herself from laughing again.

"I can't stop it, Jack. Whoever done this, knew what they were doing. I can't even trace them." Tosh told him.

"Of all the things to do." Jack said, looking at Kari. "May I have this dance?" He asked her suddenly, holding out his hand.

"Why, sir, this is very sudden." She replied, pretending to be flustered and shy. "But why the heck not?" She took hold of Jack's hand and they started to slow dance around the hub.

Kari just thought back to that day when she met Jack. She had always loved him, but not in the way she loved the Doctor. Jack was more the big brother, while the Doctor was so much more. And that was all she thought about while they danced.

"Jack? Tosh? What's going on?" A welsh voice called as the cog door rolled open. "What is that noise?"

"That would be music, Gwen." Kari called, still dancing away with Jack.

"Who the hell are you?" The welsh woman asked her, and not in a polite way either.

"I'm Kari, hello. Now, do you mind, this is our song." She had never really been fond of Gwen. She didn't like the way she treated Jack some times.

"Now, play nice." Jack whispered to her. "I take it this was all your doing?"

"Hey, never leave me alone when I'm bored. Especially when it is so easy to hack into your whole network." She told him as he held her closer.

"Well, maybe you better go and fix it." Jack said, dipping her down, just as the song finished.

Kari let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. God, you have to spoil all the fun, don't you, Jack?" She moaned, walking back towards his office.

"What, dancing with me wasn't fun?" He said, pouting at her a little.

"It was when it was on an invisible space ship, tethered up to Big Ben, during the height of the London blitz. Down in a sewer chic base in Cardiff, not so much." She called, disappearing into his office.

"Everything's still locked down, Jack." Tosh told him, trying to get her computer to work.

"Hold on, Tosh." Kari said, coming out of he office with her laptop open in her arms. "There we go. Back to normal. Nothing to worry about. Well, apart from me hacking your system again. You might want to work on that."

"Since you're such a brilliant hacker, you can help Tosh to upgrade the system then." Jack told her, making her groan a little.

"Come on, I didn't come here to work, Harkness. I came here for a holiday."

Jack just raised an eyebrow at her. "And here I was, thinking you came just to see me, Princess."

"Oh, shut up, Harkness." She said, sitting down at one of the workstations. "There. The only person who should be able to hack into Torchwood now, is me. And I promise not to do it."

"How did you do that so quickly?" Tosh asked her in shock.

"Didn't anyone tell you? I'm brilliant. Plus I already started the upgrade when I hacked in. Took less than five minutes to upgrade, and about five seconds to hack."

"Jack, who is she?" Gwen asked, wanting some answers.

"Gwen Cooper, this is Kari. An old friend of mine. We go way back. She's just stopped by for a visit." Jack told her.

"How does she know about Torchwood?" The woman asked.

"Gwen, there is something you should know about me, something important. Well, there's a few things actually, but number one, I'm not human." Kari said, shocking the woman a little. Jack just stood there, a grin on his face. "And secondly, if you look through the Torchwood founding records, I'm part of the reason why it was created in the first place."

"Have you even done that yet?" Jack asked her, not knowing where she was up to in her timeline.

"Nope. But I'm certainly looking forward to it. Queen Vic and a werewolf at Torchwood House. Oh, that mean's that technically, I'm a dame!" She cried in excitement.

"No, you're my Princess. Princess Kari, way better than Dame Kari of TARDIS." Jack told her, kissing the top of her head.

"You know what, Jack. You are so right." They both started laughing, only to stop when Ianto called for Jack.

"So, you're an alien?" Gwen finally asked as Jack disappeared again.

"Yup. Time Lady, so from my view, you lot are all aliens." Kari told her, a smile on her face.

"But you look human." Gwen pointed out.

Kari groaned, she should have seen that one coming. "No, you look Time Lord. We came first." She told her, quoting the Doctor. "And I have proof that I'm alien. Oi, Harper! Medical records, now." She shouted to him.

A minute later, he came back, a folder in his arms with Kari's name on it. "I take it you're proving that you're an alien?" He asked her. Kari just nodded and took the file form him, rummaging through it until she found what she needed.

"There we go, have a look at that. Not human, totally not human. Never does a human have two hearts." Gwen just stood there in shock. "So, Gwen Cooper, how you enjoying it at Torchwood?"

The woman just stared at her. "You're and alien." Kari nodded, while Tosh and Owen both laughed a little in the background. "You're a friend of Jacks, and you're an alien?"

"Oh, I also travel through time and space in a little blue box. But I'm taking a break from all that at the moment." Kari told her calmly, but looking forward to her reaction.

"Okay." It was clear that she was in shock.

"Okay, team, board meeting now." Jack called down to everyone. "Kari, give me five minutes." She nodded at him and sat down at the workstation in front of her.

The moment she was alone, she pulled the blue box with the ring in out of her jacket pocket. Kari opened the box and just looked at the ring. She had been away from the Doctor for less than a day and she was already missing him. She knew that she would, but she never expected it to be as much as it was.

Kari drifted off into her own little world and was brought back to reality when Jack put his hands on her shoulders. "You okay?" He asked her, seeing something was wrong.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely fine. Just thinking, you know." She told him, putting the ring back in her pocket. "So, what do you want, Harkness?"

"Come with me." He said, helping her up. "There's something I want to show you." He took her by the hand and led her to the boardroom where everyone else was waiting.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, I just had to send her off to Jack. I couldn't resist it. He's going to play a big part in Kari's future. Can't you just see them being friends forever?**

**I've actually got the next 6 episodes already planned, and they involve seeing 9-11. So I'm taking suggestions again, and if it's not on my list, I'm going to make it fit on it. In other words, what episode do you want to see posted soon?**

**A gigantic thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I can't get over how many people ready this story and actually enjoy it! The emails make me squeal in excitement, then I read them and squeal some more. And thank you to all who had favourited/followed as well. You guys are awesome. **

**Remember, keep the reviews coming, and make a suggestion for an episode you would like to see soon. **

**Pippa.**


	23. Dalek Pt1

**A/N: Thank you guys all so much for the fantastic reviews. I'm glad you liked the last chapter, so here's the next.**

* * *

Jack led Kari up to the boardroom, where everyone else was waiting. "Seriously, what's going on, Jack?" She asked him, feeling a little nervous for some reason.

"You'll find out. Come on." There was a cheeky grin on his face, and Kari just knew that he was up to something. "Okay, close your eyes." He told her as they reached the room.

Kari let out a sigh. "Really, Jack?"

"Just, close your eyes." Reluctantly she done as she was told and closed her eyes. She felt Jack pull her into the room after hearing the door open. It seemed unusually quiet, especially since she thought everyone was in the room.

"Happy birthday, Kari." Everyone, except for Gwen, shouted as she finally opened her eyes.

The room was filled with balloons, Kari knew that Ianto had been the one to work the hardest on setting everything up. "Aww, you guys. This is my second birthday this year now." Kari told them, thinking back to when she saw River who gave her a birthday present.

"Maybe for you, but not for us." Jack told her, giving her a tight hug.

"I'm going to have to drop by more often if it means I get more parties." She said, a huge grin on her face.

Owen, Tosh and Ianto all said happy birthday to her and hugged her. It seemed that they had all been prepared for her next visit and already had presents wrapped up for her. Kari noticed that Gwen was keeping her distance, and not really joining in the party mood, but she didn't really care. She was mainly there to see Jack, and if Gwen didn't like her, then that was fine.

Owen had given her a rather large box of chocolates, a few bottles of wine and a massive teddy bear. Kari laughed when she saw the tag hanging on the ribbon tied around the bear's neck, someone had named it Owen. Tosh gave her some silver photo frames, telling her that she would soon have photos to fill them with. And Ianto had brought her a perfect blue dress, with matching shoes and bag.

She was speechless at what they had all given her. This was her first time meeting them, not that they knew it, and she was slightly overwhelmed by the way they were treating her.

"Okay, my turn." Jack said, grabbing a small box off the table and passing it to Kari. "Happy birthday, Princess." He said, passing it to her and kissed her on the cheek.

She carefully undone the wrapping paper to reveal a small, square box. She eyed Jack suspiciously before slowly lifting the lid up. Her eyes widened at what she saw. "Oh my God, Jack. This must have cost you a fortune." Kari cried, looking down at the blue stone on the end of a silver chain.

"Only the best for you, Princess." Jack told her, taking the necklace out of the box. He stood behind her and carefully hung it around her neck. "Perfect." He said, a full smile on her face.

"I really don't know what to say. It's beautiful. You guys are the best." She said, ending up in a group hug as she tried to hold back the tears. "Best birthday ever."

"Well, it's not over yet." Jack whispered to her. Ianto nodded and disappeared when suddenly the lights in the room went out. He came back in with a cake, the icing the same blue as the TARDIS. They all sang to her and she blew out the candles.

They spent the rest of the day talking and laughing while eating cake and drinking plenty of wine. Gwen eventually said happy birthday to Kari, and apologised for not getting her anything. Kari didn't mind, how was Gwen to know that the Torchwood team done something like that when she showed up?

Finally Jack told everyone to go home, it was long past midnight and they had certainly drunk plenty. Everyone hugged Kari, including Gwen this time, before leaving the hub and making their way home.

"Thank you so much, Jack. That really was the best birthday ever." Kari told him, throwing herself onto his bed.

"Wait until the next one. I'm sure we can top this." Jack told her.

A sly grin formed on Kari's face as a plan ran through her head. "Well, I don't think I can wait that long. How about I take the quick route and just pop a year into the future?"

He just laughed at her. "I don't think so. I'm not letting you go anywhere yet." He grabbed hold of her and started to tickle her, making her giggle like mad.

"You know, I could get used to it here. Torchwood is rather fun." Kari told him when they had finally called a truce.

"It's not always fun. I only let the team have fun where you're here."

"Hmm, so if I stayed here all the time, you would always let the team have fun? I think that's perfect. So how about I stay here, for good?" She asked him.

Jack let out a sigh. He knew exactly what she was doing, and he knew he had to help her. "You can't, Kari, you know that. Your life is out there, among the stars with the Doctor. He needs you a lot more than you realise."

"How much do you know, Jack?" Kari wondered, just knowing that there was a lot that he knew but couldn't tell her.

"More than I should, way more than I'd like to know. I know how you feel, Princess, there is so much I want to be able to tell you but can't. All I can say is that he needs you, and you need him." She knew he was telling the truth, she could see it in his eyes.

"I have to go back to him, don't I?"

"Hey, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I'm not going to tell you what to do, you have to work that out for yourself." Jack told her, pulling her towards him and hugging her. "But I'm always here if you want to talk, I'll always listen to you."

A smile fought its way onto her face. "Thanks, Jack. You're kind of like the big brother I never had."

He chuckled a little at her comment. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Maybe I should change my name to Kari Harkness while I'm here." She pondered, knowing that it would cause some trouble with a certain Time Lord.

"Oh no, I don't think so. If you do that, I really will have the Oncoming Storm out for my blood. I think Kari Conner is just fine. But I'll still be your brother." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

After that, they spent the night talking. Jack filled her in on everything that had been happening at Torchwood, the things he got up to when the Doctor abandoned him and how he knew that none of it was her fault, even if she hadn't done that yet.

The next day went by quickly, as did the next. Before Kari knew it, she had been at Torchwood for almost a week. During that time she had tried her best to forget all about the Doctor, but she just couldn't do it. He kept popping into her mind at the most random of times.

It was late one morning that she finally decided she needed to talk to Jack about it all. "I'm still not sure what to do." She told him, sitting next to him on the sofa. "Sure, I do miss him, but everything is so different now."

"Do you love him?" Jack asked her.

Kari just looked at him in shock. "What?"

"Do you love the Doctor?"

"I… I don't… I mean, it's just…" She sat there playing with her hands, trying to think of something to say.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Jack said, giving her a little nudge. "You have to do what's right for you, Kari. No one can tell you what do to, or who to love."

"You know, I really hate it when you're right, Harkness." She said, frowning at him.

He couldn't help but smile at her. "Then you know what you've got to do, Princess. Time to say goodbye."

Kari let out a sigh, she would be happy to stay with Jack for a little while longer, maybe even until she knew the TARDIS was going to land outside of the hub. "Do I have to?" She moaned. "I can stay for a while longer you know. I do now have a vortex manipulator."

"Kari, you can't stay here forever. I'd love for you to, but you know you can't."

"Fine. But where am I meant to actually go? The Doctor isn't around here, in fact, right now, I'm pretty sure there isn't a version of him on Earth." She reminded him.

"No, but you knew where he is, and what times he is there. You know how to find him." Jack reminded her. "You once gave me a list, all you have to do it pick a number between 1 and 33, then 1 and 13 and you'll have the details you need to find him."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh great. So now I have to put that on my to do list."

He just smirked at her. "So come on, pick a number."

"Okay, fine. 27 and 6." She told him, a little grumpy.

He pulled a note pad out from his pocket and flipped through the pages. He took hold of her wrist and tapped in the numbers. "There, all ready to go. Now get your stuff and say goodbye."

Reluctantly Kari got up from the sofa and said her goodbyes, before heading into Jack's room to get the rest of her stuff. "I'll see you soon, yeah?" Kari said hugging him tightly.

"You will, I know you will. Just behave, don't be too hard on the Doctor when you see him." Jack told her, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm not making any promises. I've heard I give him a right headache at some point in the past." She gave him the biggest grin she could manage. "Catch you later Harkness." She said, hitting the button on her vortex manipulator and disappearing.

"Oh this is bliss. No headache, no sickness, nothing." Kari said, taking off her vortex manipulator and shoving it in her bag. "Okay, now where the hell am I?" She wondered, looking around the corridor.

"Who the hell are you?" An American voice called to her, watching her closely.

"Oh, crap." She whispered to herself, seeing the man standing in front of her. "Sorry, Mr Van Statten, I'm the new intern, from England." She told him, not very convincingly.

"Really? No one told me about a new intern, and I own the place." He told her smugly.

"If I were you, sir, I'd have their memory wiped and leave them by the side of the road." She suggested, knowing that was what he done to his ex-employees.

"You appeared out of nowhere, hundreds of feet underground. Who are you?" As he asked her, several guards appeared behind her. Kari knew that she was in big trouble now, she just had to keep herself calm until the Doctor arrived.

"I'm Kari, hello. And like I said, I'm the new intern."

"Lock her up. I don't believe a word you're saying, miss." The man said, watching her closely. "I'm sure we can find some way to convince you to tell me the truth." Kari did not like the smug grin on his face.

The guards grabbed her and dragged her down towards the cells. Kari could hear a screaming coming from a room close by, and she knew what it was in there. She was strapped down to a table, and a man in a white coat walked in.

Kari decided to try her luck, if she could make a bargain with them until the Doctor arrived. She couldn't let them know she wasn't human, she knew what they were going to do to the Doctor when they found out about him, she wasn't happy at that prospect.

"So, who else have you got locked up then? I hear the screams of someone, or something." She asked, trying to keep her confidence.

The man just ignored her, and set to work on some computers. "Oh, come on. You've got me strapped to a table, and most likely getting ready to torture me. What am I going to do? I can't exactly escape."

Again she received no answer, he just continued to ignore her. She heard the computer bleeping a few times, and the man gave her a questioning look. Before Kari could say anything he darted out of the room. She knew it was bad, she knew he had probably discovered that she wasn't human.

A few minutes later, Van Statten strolled into the room, the man who had ran out with him. She was glad that they hadn't noticed her bag, she had to remember to thank River again for it the next time she saw her.

"Well, well, well. It seems I have another live exhibit to add to my collection." He told her, a smirk on his face.

"Really? What have you found?" Kari asked him, trying to play dumb.

"What are you?" He asked her, taking a step closer to her. "Where are you from?"

"Cardiff, Wales. It's in the UK. Nice place really. Weather can sometimes be a bit of a pain, we get plenty of rain you see." She rambled, avoiding answer his first question.

"A binary vascular system. A woman with two hearts. How is that even possible?"

Kari would have shrugged at him if she weren't tied down. "Funny thing, freak of nature. It happens some times you know, Mr Van Statten."

"Let's see if you scream as loud as the Metaltron." He said, turning to leave the room.

"Not a Metaltron. And really? Is that the best name you could come up with?" She asked him, sounding a little disappointed.

"You know what it is?" He asked her.

"Untie me, let me see it, and I'll let you know."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" He asked her, it was clear he had no intention of letting her go any time soon. "Let's see who breaks first, you or my Mateltron." He said to her, before leaving the room.

Kari didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. She knew the Doctor would soon be there, and he would eventually get her out when he realised she was there. She just hoped it would be soon, she didn't like the prospect of being tested on, dissected and basically tortured.

Things didn't turn out like Kari had hoped. She thought that maybe she had arrived only a few hours before the Doctor at the most, but she seemed to have made a major mistake. She had been stuck there for months. She didn't speak any more, she didn't even try. They came to her, twice a day. They would experiment and torture her in the mornings, not stopping until long into the evening. After a few hours rest, someone would come in and feed her.

But she wasn't eating anymore. Kari was refusing. Most of the time she was silently crying, the tears streaming down her face while they caused her so much pain. Those who worked on her couldn't even look at her any more. At first they had tried to talk to her, but Kari didn't help herself by just snapping back at them with sarcastic comments.

Everyday she prayed that the Doctor would be coming, but he never did. She could hear the screams of the creature close by as they tortured that as well. She didn't have the energy to scream any more. She was completely exhausted all the time, too scared to sleep in case they came during the night.

It wasn't until she heard an alarm going off that she got her hopes up that maybe, just maybe, the Doctor was finally there. Kari was seriously going to have words with Jack the next time she saw him. She didn't know if he had messed up, or if it had been her, but either way, she was going to let him know exactly what happened to her.

While Kari was strapped to the table, praying with everything she had left that the Doctor was finally there, Van Statten was in his office, playing with his new toys.

"What does it do?" He asked the young man in the room as he looked at something that looked like a metal pan flute.

"Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel." The boy replied as Van Statten held the device.

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." A man's voice called, watching the pair.

"Shut it." A woman with curly hair told him sharply.

"Really though, that's wrong." The man in the leather jacket told them again.

"Is it dangerous?" The young man wondered.

"No, it just looks silly." The man said, taking the object from Van Statten. "You just need to be delicate." He told them, stroking the metal device in his hand. It hummed, making different notes.

"It's a musical instrument." Van Statten concluded, watching the man intensely.

"And it's a long way from home."

"Here, let me." Van Statten demanded, taking the musical instrument away from the man and trying to play it himself. Only nothing happened, he was being too harsh with it.

"I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." The man in the jacket told him, watching as he tried again. He eventually got the hang of it and music played from it. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you." Van Statten said, before tossing it to one side where it landed on the floor. "And exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" The man in the jacket said. If Kari had been able to hear what was going on, she probably would have smiled. But she wasn't there, she was down in a cell, strapped to a table, only half conscious.

"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake." Van Statten said, not impressed at all. This was the second time someone had gotten into his facility without being detected.

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." The Doctor replied smugly.

"The question is, how did you get in? Fifty three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice. You're quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty." Van Statten said, looking at the blonde girl standing with the Doctor.

"She's gonna smack you if you call her 'she'." Rose replied, a little irritated.

"She's English!" Van Statten exclaimed before turning to the young man who had shown him the artefact in the first place. "Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend."

"This is Mr Henry Van Statten." The boy said.

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked, having no idea who the man was.

"Mr Van Statten owns the internet."

"No he doesn't. No one owns the internet." Rose scoffed.

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten said, winking at Rose.

"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." The Doctor said, not impressed with what he had seen so far.

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten asked, watching the Doctor closely. If he really did have greater knowledge, he might just be able to help him.

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am." The Doctor responded confidently.

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" Van Statten asked him.

"You tell me."

"The Cage contains one of my two living specimens. The first one I acquired." The man told him smugly. He knew this stranger was interested, he could tell by the look on his face.

"And what are they?"

"Like you don't know." Van Statten snorted.

"Show me." The Doctor said, a bad feeling rising in his gut.

"You want to see them?" There was a twinkle in the mans eyes now. "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. Tell them we are going to see the other one after. You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pets."

Kari was barely able to register anything. She heard the person in the room talking to someone, they said something about a visitor or something. She was too tired and in too much pain to even care any more. She was actually starting to give up any hope that the Doctor was going to find her.

She had just started drifting into unconsciousness again when she heard the door open. "And this, Doctor, is my second living specimen. It was caught a few months back, we still don't know how it got in here." The voice sounded like Henry Van Statten to her, and she could have sworn he had said 'Doctor'.

The lights in the room suddenly became brighter, and Kari heard someone gasping. "What did you do to her?" She heard the Doctor shouting, his voice full of fear and anger.

"I've done what anyone else would have done. Whatever it is, it isn't human, and it refuses to talk any more. We haven't managed to learn what it is exactly, but it has two hearts." Van Statten said, feeling very pleased with him. "And goes by the name Kari."

The Doctor rushed over to her and started to undo the buckles that were keeping her strapped down. He could feel his hearts clenching, and the anger growing inside of him. "Kari? Kari, look at me. Come on, wake up." The Doctor said, his hands against her face as he looked at her.

"I wouldn't bother, it talks less than the Metaltron. It doesn't even scream." There was a hint of disappointment in Van Statten's voice as he spoke about Kari and how he never managed to get anything out of her.

The Doctor just ignored him. "Come on, Kari. Wake up." He whispered.

Slowly she started to stir, trying to open her eyes. As soon as she did she regretted it, the light just burned her eyes and made her feel sick. "Doc…Doctor?" She finally managed to mumble.

"You're safe now, Kari. I promise. I'm here now." The Doctor assured her, undoing the final strap and helping her to get up.

"I… I didn't…" Her throat as dry and she was finding it so hard to speak.

"Shush, don't worry, Kari." The Doctor told her, taking her into his arms. He turned and faced Van Statten, his anger threatening to let the Oncoming Storm lose. "What the hell have you done to her?" He shouted, making the man flinch a little.

"Doctor…"

"Shush, no talking, Kari. Let me deal with this." He told her, keeping her as close to him as he could. The problem was, Kari was finding it hard to stay on her feet. She hadn't walked in months, she had been tied down to that table. The Doctor only just managed to catch her as her legs gave way and she almost landed on the floor.

The Doctor had to carry Kari into the lift, she was drifting in and out of consciousness. "The metal's just battle armour. The real Dalek creature's inside." The Doctor told Van Statten and his assistant Goddard, trying to keep their attention away from Kari.

"What does it look like?" The man asked curiously, noticing the way the Doctor seemed protective of his specimen.

"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate." The Doctor told him.

"Genetically engineered? By whom?"

"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him."

"It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" Goddard asked the Doctor.

"Because… I'm here." He had to stop him self from saying we. He didn't want to get Kari involved any more. "How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"

"The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to the Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane." Goddard told him.

"It must have fallen through time. The only survivor." The Doctor said, gazing down at Kari again.

"You talked about a war?"

"The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race." The Doctor told them.

"But you survived too." Van Statten pointed out, a smile forming on his face.

"Not by choice."

"This means that the Dalek and her aren't the only aliens on Earth, Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence." His smile grew wider and wider. His collection had just got it's third living specimen.

Kari finally woke up to find herself tied up and propped up against the wall in a slightly darkened room. "Now, smile." She heard Van Statten call, before her eyes focused on one of the machines they had used on her. She followed it and her gaze fell on the Doctor. "Two hearts. A binary vascular system. Oh, I am so gonna patent this. But you're not the last if your kind, are you, Doctor?"

The Doctor ignored his comment. "So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it." He spat, not realising that Kari was awake. They both listened as Van Statten told him of all the times he had scavenged things, and all the ways he had used them. "Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."

"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." Van Statten said smugly.

"Listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us." The Doctor shouted.

"Nothing can escape the Cage." Van Statten told him before turning the laser back on again.

"But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet!" The Doctor shouted, before being blasted again and screaming in agony.

"Leave him alone." Kari growled, her eyes burning brightly. Suddenly the ropes binding her began to loosen as she tried to wriggle out of them. "I swear, Van Statten, you hurt him any more and I will make you suffer."

"Finally, it talks." Van Statten said, looking at her in awe. "I must say, Doctor, you seem to be rather good at making them speak today."

"It has a name. I told you before, my name is Kari." She said, getting up from the floor. "Right now, I'm more dangerous than that Dalek you have next door." Kari was furious, and the glowing eyes she currently had just proved it.

"Kari, you have to clam down. I can handle this." The Doctor told her, trying to stop her.

"I've spent months listening to that Dalek scream, you treated me the same way. I won't let you lay a finger on the Doctor."

"_Condition Red. Condition Red. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!"_ A panicked voice called over the tannoy system before anyone could reply to Kari.

"Release me if you want to live." The Doctor told him sternly.

* * *

**A/N: Oh my! Whatever shall happen next? And what exactly did Van Statten do to her? Well, you're just going to have to keep waiting for the next chapter if you want to find out. **

**Agan, big thank you to everyone who reads this, I adore your reviews. Keep them coming. **

**My list of episodes people want to see seemed to have doubled. So I am going to work really hard on them over the next week, since it's half term. **

**So, once again thank you to all who have followed/favourited and my reviewers. **

**Pippa.**


	24. Dalek Pt2

Van Statten reluctantly got the Doctor released and the first thing the Doctor done was grab hold of Kari. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"What do you think?" She told him weakly as he helped her to stand properly.

"How can you have been here for months?" The concern was just flooding him. He had no idea what they had done to her, and honestly, he didn't know if he wanted to find out.

"I may have arrived a little early." She whispered to him, holding onto his arm tightly. "Oh no, Rose. She…" Kari's mind had finally deciding to start working again.

"Kari, just stay calm. How are you feeling?" The Doctor asked her as they made their way to Van Statten's office.

"I'm… okay. Let's just leave it at that." She told him, pushing herself closer to him.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Kari, you need to tell me what happened."

"Later. We have much bigger problems to worry about. Such as that Dalek and Rose being down there with it." She told him, still feeling weak, but nowhere near as bad as she had been.

When she had seen what was happening to the Doctor, she just lost it. She knew she was getting angry, she could feel it. It would seem that what ever had happened when she was angry, had given her a boost. She thought back to what the Face of Boe had told her, that she had the Time Vortex flowing through her. Kari could only assume that was what it was.

"Does that Dalek know that you're here?" The Doctor asked her, still worried about her.

"Nope. Never got a chance to see it. Van Statten locked me up and… but I knew it was there. I knew exactly what he was keeping there and what he was doing to it. And now I know what Rose has done." Kari told her, a grim expression on her face.

"Kari, are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled at him as best she could. "Of course I am. Come on, Doctor, how long have you known me for? I can survive anything. Trust me, this is nothing." She told him, knowing that there were worse days to come for both of them.

They darted out of the lift and into Van Statten's office. "You've got to keep it in that cell." The Doctor shouted, seeing Rose on the large screen in the room.

"_Doctor, it's all my fault."_ Rose cried.

"_I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."_ The guard who was with Rose told them.

Kari snorted. "Yeah? Well, a Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat. And you have about fifteen seconds before that door opens." She told them, knowing from the amount of times she had counted when she had watched the episode.

"_Kari!"_ Rose called. _"When did you get here? You're looking awful." _

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks, Rose. I feel bloody awful. Now, focus on the stupid Dalek." She shouted.

They watched, and waited. And just as Kari said, the door began to open. The guard who was down there began shooting at it.

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed." Van Statten called.

"Rose, get the hell out of there." Kari called, knowing exactly what was coming next.

Another of the guards took Rose and Adam, the boy from England, to keep them safe. While the Dalek smashed a monitor on the wall.

"We're loosing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah." Goddard cried.

"It's downloading. And before you ask, it's not just the energy. That Dalek has just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything. And now, we are in even more trouble than before." Kari warned them.

"The cameras in the vault have gone down." Goddard told them as the Dalek destroyed all the cameras.

"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!" The Doctor shouted to Van Statten.

"All guards to converse on the Metaltrons cage, immediately." Goddard called over the comms.

"_Doctor, you have to trust me today. I know what's going to happen, and if I tell you not to do something, you sure as hell better listen to me."_ Kari called to him.

He looked at her, his curiosity rising. _"What do you know?" _

"_Like I'm really stupid enough to tell you. Just trust me, and listen to me. I want to get the hell out of this place. I want a nice hot bath and a warm bed to sleep in."_ The Doctor nodded at her. He could tell that she had been through a lot, and he knew that there was no way she was going to tell him until she was rested.

"Tell them to stop shooting at it." Van Statten cried, seeing the guards firing at his prized pet.

"Mr Van Statten, that Dalek is killing them. There will be a lot more deaths if it isn't stopped." Kari warned him, her voice dangerously low.

"They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique. I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?" He shouted, ignoring everything Kari had said to him.

Everything went silent, all the guards had been killed. "That's us, right below the surface." Goddard said, showing them the schematics for the building. "That's the cage, and that's the Dalek."

"This museum of yours, have you got any alien weapons?" The Doctor asked.

Goddard nodded at him. "Lots of them, but the trouble is, the Dalek's between us and them."

"We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there." Van Statten suggested.

Kari had seriously had enough with the man now. "Leaving everyone trapped with it, signing their death warrants. Rose is down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that?" She spat at him. The Doctor gently squeezed her hand, trying to get her to calm down.

"It's got to go through this area. What's that?" The Doctor asked, pointing at a block on the schematics.

"Weapons testing." Kari said at the same time as Goddard.

"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it." The Doctor told her.

They knew more people were dying because of the Dalek. And Rose was still trapped down there, running away from it.

"I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." Van Statten said.

Kari just laughed. "Daleks don't negotiate. They have one purpose and one purpose alone. To exterminate anything and everything that isn't a Dalek."

Van Statten just looked at her in shock. "What's the nearest town?" The Doctor asked, knowing that Kari was right.

"Salt Lake City." Kari and Van Statten said at the same time.

"Population of over one million." Kari continued, knowing what the Doctor's next question was going to be.

"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs." The Doctor told them.

"But why would it do that?" Van Statten asked, still not understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!" The Doctor shouted.

"The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home." The Doctor called over the comms.

"But it's not indestructible." Kari said, a tiny hint of a smile on her face.

The Doctor just smiled at her, that was his Kari. "If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."

"_Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Position!" _The commander called from where they were stationed down in the loading bay where the Dalek was approaching.

Kari let out a sigh. "If people don't start listening to us, no one is going to get out of here alive." She knew just how many people died, and she hated it, because she couldn't help them. "And Rose is still down there."

After a few minutes of waiting, the screen on the wall came back on. "We've got vision." Goddard announced.

"Yup, because it wants us to see. It wants us to see the death of all those people." Kari spat, feeling her emotions start to get the better of her. "I can't watch this." She said, turning away as the Dalek shot its laser at the fire alarm, setting off all the sprinklers while it floated in the air.

The Dalek fired its laser at the soaked floor, electrocuting everyone standing in the puddles. Then it done to the same to the rest on the metal walk ways.

"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy." Van Statten said, while the Doctor tried to comfort Kari. "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out." Goddard reminded him.

"You said we could seal the vault." The Doctor pointed out, holding Kari close to him. Her eyes had glazed over slightly, and it was worrying him.

"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of a nuclear war. Steel bulkheads." Van Statten told him.

"There is enough power." Kari whispered, as Goddard went to speak. "We've got emergency power, everyone always has emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."

Everyone just looked at her. "We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius." Goddard didn't seem to have much hope in the situation. She was constantly finding faults with everything.

"Good thing you've got me then." Van Statten said smugly.

"You want to help?" The Doctor asked, a little bit shocked.

"I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me." He replied, setting to work on the computer terminal.

"Sir…" Goddard got everyone attention back to the screen where the Dalek was now back on the ground.

"_I SHALL SPEAK ONLY TO THE DOCTOR."_ The Dalek called on the screen.

"You're going to get rusty." He said, making sure to keep Kari safely hidden behind him.

"_I FED OFF THE DNA OF ROSE TYLER. EXTRAPOLATING THE BIOMASS OF A TIME TRAVELLER REGENERATED ME."_

"What's your next trick?"

"_I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE DALEKS." _

"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?" The Doctor asked it, knowing that it would have found nothing.

"_I SCANNED YOUR SATELLITES AND RADIO TELESCOPES."_

"And?"

"_NOTHING? WHERE SHALL I GET MY ORDERS NOW?"_ It asked, sound a little… sad. If it were possible for a Dalek to feel any emotions and feel sad.

"You're just a soldier without commands." The Doctor said, feeling a little smug now.

"_THEN I SHALL FOLLOW THE PRIMARY ORDER, THE DALEK INSTINCT TO DESTROY, TO CONQUER."_ The Dalek decided. Kari was biting her lip behind the Doctor. All she kept thinking about was Rose, and how she was getting along. She knew she was going to be trapped with the Dalek. Even worse, caught by the Dalek.

"What for?" The Doctor asked. "What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for." The Dalek asked what it should do, and the Doctor was only too happy to offer a suggestion. "All right then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself."

"_THE DALEKS MUST SURVIVE!"_ It screeched.

"The Daleks have failed. Why don't you just finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe if your filth. Why don't you just die?"

The Dalek seemed to ponder on the Doctor's words for a few moments before responding. _"YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK." _

The screen died and Kari tugged at the Doctor's hand. _"It going to be fine, Theta. I promise."_ She whispered in his mind, making him smile a little. "Seal the vault." She ordered, turning to Van Statten.

"I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast." There was a grin on the man's face as he worked away.

"Are you enjoying this?" The Doctor spat at him, causing Kari to squeeze the hand of his that she was still holding onto.

"Rose is still down there." Kari reminded him, picking up the phone.

"_This isn't the best time." _Rose said when she answered.

"Rose, you have to get to level forty six, and fast. The vault's being sealed off so you have to keep moving."

"_Can't you stop them closing?"_ She asked.

"We're the ones closing them. Listen to me, Rose. Stay calm, whatever happens, stay calm. The Dalek extrapolated your DNA, the DNA of Rose Tyler." Kari told her, knowing for a fact that it was causing the Dalek to mutate. "Now for God sake, run!"

"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." Van Statten said, as Kari put the call on speaker.

"The Dalek's right behind them." Goddard informed them, watching it gaining on them.

"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing." The Doctor wasn't listening to him, He was watching Kari closely, she was staying calm, just a little too calm. "Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."

"I'm sorry." He whispered, before hitting the enter key. As soon as he did, the bulkhead started to close.

"The vault is sealed." Van Statten announced, feeling a little relieved.

"Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?" The Doctor asked her.

"_Sorry, I was a bit slow. See you then, Doctor, Kari. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world." _

"_EXTERMINATE!" _They heard the Dalek cry, before the line went dead.

"I killed her." The Doctor said in shock.

Van Statten just looked at him. "I'm sorry."

"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of us, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me." The Doctor spat at him. Kari was going to let the Doctor vent out his anger, she knew that he really needed to, because Van Statten needed to know what he had done.

"It was the prize of my collection!" The man argued.

"Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." The Doctor told him.

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"

"You just wanted to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you. She was nineteen years old."

"She still is." Kari said, a grin on her face. "It really isn't that easy to get rid of Rose Tyler. Believe me, we been through worse."

The Doctor just frowned at her. "Is this your all knowing power?"

She shrugged at him. "Maybe."

"I take it you're starting to feel better now then?" He asked her, hoping that she really was.

"Yeah, but there's one thing that will really make me feel so much better." She told him, taking a step over to Van Statten. Kari smiled at him sweetly before pulling be her arm and punching the man in the face, sending him to the ground. "Yeah, that definitely made me feel so much better."

The Doctor just laughed before pulling her into a tight embrace. _"You've had some practice."_

"_Maybe a little. An old friend of mine taught me a few things not so long ago. He thought I might need it some day."_ She told him, both of them still beaming away.

"I think you broke my nose." Van Statten cried, holding onto his bloodied nose.

The Doctor just glared at him. "Be thankful it was her that hit you and not me. If I had, you would never be getting up again." He voice was so low, and intimidating. Kari knew that he was serious, and for once, she fully understood why.

"_Do you mind leaving the Oncoming Storm outside please?"_ Kari asked him, really not wanting to see him angry any more. She seemed to be getting along with him, for now. Maybe it was because of what she had been through before he found her, either way, they weren't fighting.

The door opened and Adam walked into the room. "You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind." The Doctor spat at him, not listening to Kari's words.

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" He protested, just before the screen came back to life again.

"_OPEN THE BULKHEAD OR ROSE TYLER DIES." _The Dalek informed them.

"You're alive!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Kari just rolled her eyes. "I did actually tell you that, didn't I? I swear I told you that."

"_OPEN THE BULKHEAD."_ The Dalek ordered.

"_It's fine, Theta, do it."_ Kari whispered in his mind.

The Doctor looked at her and nodded. "I killed her once. I can't do it again." He said, before opening the bulkhead again.

"What do we do now, you bleeding heart? What the hell do we do?" Van Statten spat.

"Oh, shut up will you. You're giving me a headache." Kari said, taking everyone but the Doctor by surprise. "Adam, I think it's time we headed to your workshop. I know for a fact that you have a few un-catalogued things in there."

The young man just nodded at her and he led Kari and the Doctor down. "Broken, broken, hairdryer." The Doctor said, tossing different things to the side.

"Is that hairdryer strong enough to disrupt your sonic?" Kari asked, remembering something he will say in the future. All he did was give her a funny look.

"Mr Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory." Adam told them.

"Stupid bloody retcon." Kari mumbled.

"I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."

"What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that." The Doctor scoffed, looking at the scrawny boy.

"I could do." He protested.

"What're you going to do, throw you're a-levels at 'em?" The Doctor asked, making Kari giggle a little. "Oh, yes. Lock and load." He said, finally managing to find something that was a weapon and worked.

"Okay, come on then, Doctor. Time to go and finish this." Kari said, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the stairs.

"I take it you know where we're going?" He asked, holding her hand tightly and the rather large, oversized gun in the other.

"Of course I do. Now, do you remember what I said earlier? About you listening to me?" The Doctor nodded at her. "Good, because that time is coming. Now shift it."

They carried on running until they finally reached Rose and the Dalek. There was a hole in the roof, with sunlight streaming in and the Dalek's casing open as well.

"Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!" The Doctor shouted.

"No. I won't let you do this." Rose called back to him, standing in front of the Dalek, protecting it.

"That thing killed hundreds of people." The Doctor protested, keeping the gun aimed.

"It's not the one pointing the gun at me."

"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left but Kari now."

Kari stepped out from behind the Doctor. "Yeah, and look at the Dalek." She whispered to him, before walking over to Rose.

"What's it doing?" He asked, seeming a little confused.

"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." Rose told him, smiling at Kari as she took her friends hand.

"But it can't…"

Kari let out a sigh. "It couldn't kill Van Statten and it couldn't kill Rose. It's changing." She told him. "Listen to me, Doctor, and stop this."

Slowly he lowered the gun some more, keeping his word and listening to Kari. "WHY DO WE SURVIVE?" The Dalek asked.

The Doctor looked at it with pity. "I don't know."

"I AM THE LAST OF THE DALEKS."

"You're not even that." Kari told it. "Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."

Its eyestalk swung round and focused on Kari. "INTO WHAT?"

"Something new. I'm sorry, I really am." She told it, knowing how this was all going to end.

"Isn't that better?" Rose asked, not really understanding what was going on. Kari just shook her head.

"I CAN FEEL SO MANY IDEAS. SO MUCH DARKNESS. ROSE, GIVE ME ORDERS. ORDER ME TO DIE."

Rose just shook her head. "I can't do that."

"THIS IS NOT LIFE. THIS IS SICKNESS. I SHALL NOT BE LIKE YOU. ORDER MY DESTRUCTION! OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!" The Dalek cried.

"Do it." Rose said, feeling a little scared.

"ARE YOU FRIGHTENED, ROSE TYLER?" She admitted that she was. And so did the Dalek.

Kari dragged Rose away as the casing closed before the Dalek levitated into the air again. The spheres on its case broke apart and surrounded it, creating some kind of force field, before the Dalek self-destructed.

"You okay, Rose?" Kari asked, wrapping an arm around her friend.

She nodded. "Better than you by the looks of it. What happened to you?" There was concern in her voice and her eyes.

"Long story. Let's just say the Dalek wasn't Van Statten's only living specimen." All Kari wanted to do was forget everything that had happened. She knew she wouldn't have to live through it again, it was over now.

"What do you mean?"

Kari just smiled at her. "It doesn't matter. Come on, I think it's time we left."

They made their way back through the museum, the Doctor keeping Kari close to him. He wanted to talk to her, ask her exactly what happened, but something was telling him that she didn't want to talk about it. At least, not yet.

"A little piece of home. Better than nothing." He said once they reached the TARDIS.

"Oh, am I glad to see her." Kari said, resting her head against the blue box. There was a gently hum inside her head, the TARDIS seemed glad to see her as well.

"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asked the pair.

"We're the only ones left. We win. How about that." Kari knew the Doctor didn't feel like a winner. If she hadn't have been there, he would still be the last, he would be the only one.

"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." Rose suggested, trying to cheer him up.

"We'd know. In here." He said, tapping his head. "Feels like there's no one."

"Oi, what about me?" Kari asked, shoving him a little.

"You don't leave your mind constantly open. You keep yourself closed off. I only hear you when you talk to me. I feel you, but it's always so quiet." Kari understood exactly what he was saying.

"We'd better get out." Adam said, as he came over to the trio. "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed."

"About time." Kari said, before turning away. "I am going to have a well deserved bath. Been months since I last had one. And I should probably get some sleep as well."

"You going to be alright?" The Doctor asked her.

She just smiled at him and put her hand on the door of the TARDIS. "Course I am. She'll keep me safe, she always does." The door clicked open and she stepped inside.

As soon as her feet touched the grating of the TARDIS floor she let out a sigh of relief. "Home." She whispered, stoking the console as she passed it.

Once she was in her room, she ran herself a bath. Kari was still having trouble accepting the fact that she had been locked away for months, but the moment she started to undress she could. She had deep scars running down her front. The scars from where they dissected her.

She took a deep breath and lowered herself into the bath, letting the tears stream down her face. She had to keep reminding herself that it was over now, they weren't going to hurt her again. She could sleep knowing that she was safe, that the Doctor was there to protect her.

About an hour later she was getting herself dressed, refusing to look at herself in the mirror. Once she felt that all her scars were safely hidden, she headed to the console room where she knew the Doctor was waiting for her.

He looked up when he saw her, a small and concerned smile on his face. "How you feeling?" The Doctor asked, sitting down next to her on the seat.

"I'm okay. Better for having a bath and a clean change of clothes." She told him. Kari knew he was going to want all the details, but she didn't know if she wanted to tell him.

"How long were you there, Kari?"

She let out a sigh. "A few months. I lost track of time after a while. I lost track of everything. It all just passed in a blur really. And before you ask, I have no idea how I managed to end up getting there so early." She knew she was lying, but what else could she do? She couldn't tell him she had a vortex manipulator.

"Well, you're safe now." He told her, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.

"I know. It's good to be back in here. I've missed the old girl." There was a hum from the TARDIS, a happy hum. "So is Rose showing…" Kari let out a groan of pain as she clutched hold of her head. "Oh you are kidding me. Have I not had to suffer enough?"

The Doctor let out a sigh, he knew what was going to happen now. "Kari, I want you to promise me something." She looked up at him, tears building in her eyes. "The next time to see me after this, however far along, I want you to tell me exactly what happened in there."

She nodded at him as best she could, but the pain was building and the glow had already started to engulf her. "I'll see you later, Doctor. Tell Rose I said bye." She managed to whisper, before she was pulled from the TARDIS.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was certainly different wasn't it? Kari and 9 getting along? There must be something wrong in the universe somewhere for that to happen. **

**Things are going to get worse for Kari before they get better. But don't worry, there's lots of adventure, and shouting, and hugging. **

**I've got he next 13 episodes all planned, and partially written. So I am taking suggestions again to add to the list for the next lot. Either leave it in a review or PM me with suggestions. **

**Big massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You guys are just totally awesome. And a big thank you to everyone who has followed/favourited as well. **

**So come no guys, review, let me know what you think, hint at episodes that you want to see. **

**Pippa.**


	25. The Unicorn and the Wasp Pt1

Kari was waiting for her head to stop spinning, and for the sickness she was feeling to pass as well. Travelling by vortex manipulator was definitely a better way to travel in her opinion, but she would take the TARDIS over that any day.

"Oi, spaceman! You've got a visitor." Kari heard a familiar voice call.

She tried to pushed herself off the floor, but everything seemed to be hurting, especially her chest. She let out a groan of pain as she tried and failed again. It wasn't until she felt a pair of arms around her that she managed to get off the floor.

"Hey, Kari, are you okay?" The man in the suit with the Converse trainers on asked her.

"I… I think… I…" She mumbled, before passing out in his arms.

"Doctor, is Kari okay?"

He bit his lip and looked up at the ginger haired woman. "I'm not sure, Donna. But I don't like the look of this blood seeping through her clothes." He said, noticing the red soaking into her blouse.

"Oh, my God. What happened to her?" Donna cried, worried for her friend.

"I don't know. I don't know where she's just been. I have no idea what's happened." The Doctor told her, his face full of concern for the woman in his arms.

"Well? Stop standing there and go get her fixed up." Donna said, pointing towards the stairs.

He took the hint and carried Kari out of the console room and towards the medical bay. She was looking a little paler than he would have liked, and he had no idea why. Just from looking at her, he could tell it was still early in her time line.

The Doctor set her down on the bed and just carried on gazing at her. He let out a sigh as a hum from the ship brought him back to reality. "Oh, what have you been up to, Kari?" He asked her, looking at the blood on her once blue blouse.

He gently took the hem of her blouse and lifted it slight, partially revealing an open wound that was bleeding. So many thoughts and feelings began to run through him. He needed to know how it happened, who done it to her, when it happened.

The Time Lord just stood there, looking at Kari and trying to keep himself calm. "Doctor, how is she?" Donna asked, coming into the medical bay with a hot cup of tea for him.

"I need to close this cut up." He mumbled, taking hold of both of Kari's hands in his own and holding them near the open wound. Donna watched as their hands glowed golden before the Doctor let out a sigh. "She needs to rest. I'm still not sure what's happened, but she should be fine now."

As soon as he had finished talking, Kari started to stir. "Doctor?" She called quietly, forcing her eyes to open.

"Hey, I'm here. You're okay." He told her, stroking the top of her head in reassurance.

"Doctor, I need to tell you something. I have to tell you what happened, I promised." She mumbled, waiting for her eyes to focus properly.

"Kari, you need to rest. Whatever it is, it can wait."

"No, I made a promise, I need to tell you." She pressed. Kari knew she had to tell him, she knew that he had been waiting a long time to find out exactly what had happened to her when she had been locked up by Van Statten.

"And you can tell me, later." He told her, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. Kari took this as her chance and put her hands on the side if his head, gently pulling him back down and making their foreheads touch.

"I'm sorry. You have to know." She whispered to him, before showing him everything that had happened in the months she had been away from him for.

She showed him how she arrived way too early, but not how she got there. He saw everything they done to her, the tests and experiments, the way she was treated. He could feel all the pain that she had felt every time they cut her open.

When she finally let him go, there were tears in both of eyes. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I promised." She mumbled, before closing her eyes and letting the exhaustion take her over. The boost in her energy that she had when they were in the museum was gone, and now her whole body just wanted to shut down and switch off for a while.

"Doctor?" Donna called, putting a hand on his arm.

"Oh, Donna. I wasn't there to protect her. I let her down. This is all my fault." He said, trying to fight back the tears.

"What happened?" She asked him softly, sensing that it was a difficult issue. Kari was her friend, just like the Doctor was, and she didn't like to see either of them hurt or upset.

"Something that happened a long time ago. They dissected her, they hurt her. She said she just arrived to early, but maybe it was because of me arriving too late that it happened." The woman could see that he was blaming himself, and she knew Kari would never let him do that.

"Yeah, but she's safe now, Doctor. There is no point in trying to set the blame on anyone, it's happened, and she's here. Kari is safe." She assured him. "Go and take her somewhere more comfortable."

The Doctor nodded at the ginger woman and carefully gathered Kari up in his arms before carrying her out of the medical bay and through the long and winding corridors of the ship. He only stopped when a door that was only familiar to him appeared before him. The door opened by itself and the Doctor quickly stepped in, before lying Kari down on the large bed in the centre of the room.

"Really, Kari. What am I going to do with you?" He asked her, letting out a sigh. "I'd feel so much better if you didn't keep jumping around everywhere, if you just stayed in one place." His hand was now playing with her hair. "There has to be something we can do to stop all of this."

Kari just rolled over onto her side, making the Doctor jump a little. He sometimes forgot that she would fidget quite a lot when she was sleeping. "Get some rest, and I'll see you when you're feeling better." The Doctor whispered to her, kissing her lips lightly before making his way out of the room and back to the console where Donna was waiting.

"Doctor, I'm sure she'll be fine." The woman said, wanting to do something to help her friend. "I mean, the amount of stuff the pair of you get up to, I don't believe it half the time."

"It's still too early, Donna." He told her, plonking himself down in the jump seat. "She still doesn't know, and I wished she did."

It was a few hours later when Kari finally decided to wake up. As her eyes focused, she looked around the room, already sensing that she wasn't in her own. She threw off the bed covers and spotted some clean clothes sitting on a chair.

She took off her blouse, noticing the blood stains on it and quickly looked down at herself. All the scares were gone. "I take it that was the Doctor's doing?" She whispered, receiving a hum from the ship in reply. She hurriedly finished getting dressed in the jeans and jumper that were waiting for her and made her way to the console room.

Kari spotted the Doctor sitting on the chair, seemingly deep in thought. She knew he probably had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her, but she didn't really want to think about it. What happened with Van Statten was something she never wanted to think about ever again.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She called, leaning against the railing.

The Doctor's head instantly shot up and he smiled at her. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Someone managed to patch me up pretty well." She told him, not moving away from her spot. "So, where are we up to then? I'm pretty sure I heard Donna when I first got here."

"Yeah, Donna's with us. She's gone to bed. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, getting up from the seat and walking over to her.

"Yeah. Been a bit mad recently, and not happy with a certain friend of ours." She told him, thinking about Jack and how it was him who set her vortex manipulator. "And I might as well tell you now, it's still early for me." She pointed out to him.

The Doctor let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, I know." He told her sadly.

She didn't miss the way he had said it, and although she hated to see him so sad, she just wasn't ready to tell him yet. There was a lot she needed to sort out in her own head still. But she couldn't stop herself from saying how she was feeling to him. "You know, I was fine before, but now I'm even better."

"And why is that?" The Doctor asked her, kissing the top of her head as he did.

"Well, I'm in a ship that can travel through all of time and space, with one very sexy Time Lord."

"Still think I'm sexy then?" He asked her, a mad grin on his face.

Kari thought on it for a moment, she remembered telling him she thought he was sexy once before, a very long time ago. "Maybe. It's still too early for me to be completely sure about it." She replied, trying to hide the grin on her face.

"Oh, yeah. Of course it is." He said, mockingly. "So come on then, where do you want to go? Or do you want to wait for Donna to get up?"

Kari had missed the Doctor, especially this version of him. "I'm sure we can find something to do before Donna wakes up. We don't actually have to go anywhere to have a good time." She told him, thinking back to the day when they watched a load of the Harry Potter films in his future.

"Okay, we can go and sit in the library? Or, go for a swim? I don't know, maybe you want to go watch a few movies?" He asked, trying his best to make some suggestions of what they could do.

Kari couldn't help but notice that he seemed more than a little nervous. "I really don't mind, Doctor. I'm just… glad to be here."

They ended up going to the library. Kari hadn't really been in there before, and she was amazed at the size of it. Every book that she had ever read or wanted to read was right there waiting for her. The only books that were missing, were the Doctor Who books. All those adventures written on paper that she had read before, and all those ones she would now miss.

She was curled up on a worn red sofa next to the Doctor. Both of them had books in their hands. The Doctor was reading something by Agatha Christie, while Kari had opted for something a little different. She found a whole section full of manga, and she was enjoying going through them.

She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't notice that the Doctor was just sitting there watching her. He couldn't help but notice how focused she seemed when she was reading, the room could have been set ablaze and she probably wouldn't have noticed.

It wasn't until the Doctor plucked the book from her hand that she came back to the real world. "Hey, I was reading that." Kari cried at him.

"I know you were." He told her, placing the book down on the table in front of them. "I thought maybe you would want some tea?"

She frowned at him a little, wondering if that really was his reason. "Yeah, sure." She said, pushing herself off the sofa, the Doctor following behind her.

They had been sitting in the kitchen in silence for only a short time when the door opened and a ginger haired woman walked in. "Morning Donna." Kari called, smiling away.

The woman just waved a hand at her and headed over to the counter to pour herself a coffee. Donna sat down with the mug in her hands, and let out a sigh after taking a large gulp. "Ah, that's better. Morning, Kari. How you feeling now? You were in a right state when you got here."

"I'm fine now. Just had a bit of a rough day." Kari told her, getting a concerned looking from the Doctor. "But now I am ready for a brand new adventure."

"Well what are we sitting here for?" Donna asked her, a grin on her face. "Let's get going." She jumped out of her chair, taking Kari and the Doctor with her and dragging them to the console.

"Oh, I know where we can go." Kari said, her eyes lighting up. "Can I?"

The Doctor just looked at her pouting face, there was no way that he could say no to her. "Oh, go on then."

"Yay, thank you." Kari said, giving him a quick hug before darting around the console.

A few minutes later they had landed, and Kari was the first one out of the door, with the Doctor close behind her. "Oh, smell that air. Grass and lemonade. And a little bit of mint. A hint of mint. Must be the nineteen twenties." The Doctor decided.

"You can tell what year it is just be smelling?" Donna asked him, slightly amazed.

"Oh, yeah." He replied smugly, only Kari was ready to put him back in his place.

"Or maybe the big vintage car coming up the drive gave it away." She said, pointing at it.

The Doctor just frowned at her. "I take it there is a reason you brought us here?" He asked her, as they crept around the bushes to listen in on a conversation.

"Spoilers." Kari replied, a huge grin on her face.

"It's supposed to be a party. All this work will be the death of you." The reverend said to the man standing before him.

"Never mind the Planet Zog. A party in the nineteen twenties, that's more like it." Donna said in excitement.

"The trouble is, we haven't been invited." The Doctor said seriously, before reaching into his pocket. "Oh, I forgot. Yes, we have." He waved his psychic paper in front of them and they headed back to the TARDIS.

Donna and Kari were inside, getting changed. Donna was the kind of person who loved to dress up for the occasion. She loved the dressing up part, and Kari loved it just as much.

"_We'll be late for cocktails."_ The Doctor called, knocking on the TARDIS doors has he waited outside for the women to come out.

The door opened and Donna stepped out wearing a brown dress, very suitable for the time period. "What do you think, flapper, or slapper?" She asked him, standing in the open doorway.

"Flapper. You look lovely." The Doctor said, smiling at her. "Where's Kari?"

Donna stepped away and Kari came out, wearing a deep blue flapper dress with a matching bag hanging off her arm. Donna had worked on her hair and managed to neatly pull it up into a bun, with a few curly strands of her golden hair hanging around her face.

"Kari, you love beautiful." The Doctor said, making her cheeks burn red.

"Thanks." She mumbled, looking down at her feet. "Shall we go then?" She asked. The Doctor held out both his arms, Donna taking one and Kari taking the other.

They made their way across the lawn and over to where the party was ready to start.

"Look sharp. We have guests." The housekeeper called, immediately making the servants busy themselves.

"Good afternoon." The Doctor said, as he approached one of the servants.

"Drinks, sir? Ma'am's?" He asked the trio.

"Sidecar, please." Donna replied, putting on a rather posh voice and smiling away. It was clear to see that she was excited.

"And two lime and soda's, thank you." The Doctor said, ordering for both himself and Kari.

"May I announce, Lady Clemency Eddison." The butler called, as a woman left the house and came over to the Doctor, Kari and Donna.

"Lady Eddison." The Doctor said, smiling away.

She looked at him strangely. "Forgive me, but who exactly might you be, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm the Doctor. And this is my wife, Kari, and Miss Donna Noble, of the Chiswick Nobles." For once, Kari didn't question why the Doctor had called her his wife. She wasn't even going to mention it.

"Good afternoon, my lady. Topping day, what? Spiffing. Top hole." Donna said, making sure to stay posh.

"No, no, no, no, no. No, don't do that. Don't." The Doctor whispered to her to get her to shut up.

"We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the Ambassador's reception." Kari said, taking the psychic paper from the Doctor and showing it to the woman.

She looked at it for a moment before smiling at the group. "Doctor and Kari, how could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose."

"A unicorn? Brilliant, where?" The Doctor asked, getting a little excited.

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Not a unicorn, The Unicorn. The jewel thief."

Lady Eddison nodded at her. "Nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose."

"Funny place to wear pearls." Donna said, causing Kari to hold in her laughter as they were served their drinks.

"May I introduce Colonel Huge Curbishley, the Honourable Roger Curbishley." The butler announced as a man came across the lawn, pushing an older man in a wheel chair.

"My husband and my son." Lady Eddison told them.

"Forgive me for not rising. Never been the same ever since that flu epidemic back in eighteen." The Colonel informed the three of them. Kari just smiled and nodded at him, she knew it was a little more than that.

"My word, you are a super lady." Roger said to Donna, making her grin madly.

"Oh, I like the colour of your jib. Chin, chin." Donna said.

"Donna is going to be so disappointed." Kari whispered to the Doctor. He just looked at her in bemusement before introducing himself to Roger.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Kari."

"How do you do?" Roger asked, smiling at the couple.

"Very well, thank you." Kari said, beaming away. She couldn't wait for the guest of honour to get there, she knew the Doctor was going to love it.

"Your usual, sir?" The male servant who has served the trio asked Roger.

"Ah, thank you, Davenport. Just how I like it." Kari could see it, it was a clear as day what was going on between the two men.

"How come she's an Eddison, but her husband and son are Curbishleys?" Donna asked in a hushed tone so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"The Eddison title descends through her. One day, Roger will be a lord." The Doctor told her.

"Robina Redmond." The butler announced, as a young, and rather pretty woman walked over.

"She's the absolute hit of the social scene. A must." Lady Eddison whispered to the trio. "Miss Redmond." She called, greeting the woman.

"Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady. What super fun."

"Reverend Arnold Golightly."

"Ah, Reverend. How are you?" Lady Eddison asked him. "I heard about the church last Thursday night. Those ruffians breaking in."

"You apprehended them, I hear." The Colonel said, seemingly a little impressed with the man. The Reverend didn't look like the kind of person to get into a fight, let alone win one.

"As the Christian Fathers taught me, we much forgive them their trespasses. Quite literally." The Reverend replied, a smile on his face.

"Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing." Roger announced, getting the attention of Davenport.

"Couldn't agree more, sir." And that was when Donna finally noticed it as well.

"Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus." She said, looking at the two men.

"Or Time Lords." Kari added. "Or immortal." She said, thinking back to Jack.

The Doctor leaned over and whispered in Kari's ear. "Just pray we never have Donna and Jack in the same room. I don't think the universe could take it."

She had to hold in her laughter again. "If that ever happens, it's because reality is collapsing. I completely agree with you, Doctor. Jack's mine."

He just frowned at her. "And what does that mean?" Kari couldn't help but notice the hurt look on his face.

"It means that I'm the only time traveller allowed to flirt with Harkness. You forget, Doctor, I know him better than anyone." She thought about it for a minute. "Okay, maybe Ianto knows him just a tiny bit better."

"And who's Ianto?" He asked her curiously.

"Spoilers."

"Now, my Lady. What about this special guest you promised us?" Roger asked his mother.

"Here she is. A lady who needs no introductions." Lady Eddison said, smiling and pointing to the woman walking across the lawn.

As she approached, the others began to clap. "No, no, please, don't." She said, feeling a little embarrassed. "Thank you, Lady Eddison. Honestly, there's no need."

"Agatha Christie." The woman said, holding out her hand.

"What about her?" Donna asked, dropping her posh accent.

Kari couldn't help but smile at the woman's next words. "That's me."

"No. You're kidding." Donna exclaimed, a seemingly not as excited as the Doctor was.

"Agatha Christie. I was just talking about you the other day. I said, I bet she's brilliant. I'm the Doctor, this is Kari and Donna. Oh, I love your stuff. What a mind." The Doctor rambled. "You fool me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once. But it was a good once."

"You make a rather nice couple." Agatha said, looking between the Doctor and Kari.

"Do we?" Kari asked, tensing up a little. "I don't know, he's a bit too weird for me sometimes."

The Doctor just nudged her in the side, getting her to shut up. "Although, no wedding rings." Agatha pointed out.

Kari just let her gaze fall to the floor, while the Doctor became even more excited. "Oh. Oh, you don't miss a trick."

"I'd stay that way if I were you. The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture." Agatha said, looking at Donna and Kari.

Kari was now feeling more than just a little awkward. She had completely forgotten about that part, the woman was meant to say that the Doctor and Donna made an odd couple, not comment on her and the Doctor.

"Mrs Christie, I'm so glad you could come. I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Er, is, er, Mr Christie not joining us?" Lady Eddison asked, looking around for the man.

"Is he needed? Can't a woman make her own way in the world?" Agatha asked, slightly hurt and offended by the mention of her husband.

"Don't give my wife ideas." Colonel Curbishley commented.

"Now, Mrs Christie, I have a question. Why a Belgian detective?" Roger asked, as the Doctor borrowed the newspaper that the Colonel had.

"Belgians make such lovely buns." Agatha told them, getting a few laughs.

"I say, where on Earth is Professor Peach? He'd love to meet Mrs Christie." Roger looked around and noticed that the man was nowhere in sight.

"Said he was going to the library." Reverend Golightly informed them all.

Lady Eddison called to her house keeper. "Miss Chandrakala, would you go and collect the Professor?" The woman dashed towards the house, while the Doctor continued to look at the paper.

"The date on this newspaper…" He said, frowning a little.

"What about it?" Donna asked, having no idea what it meant.

"It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared." Kari told them in a whisper, leading them away from the group a little. "She'd just discovered her husband was having an affair, stupid man."

"You'd never think to look at her, smiling away." Donna said, glancing over at the woman happy and chatting away.

"Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do. They carry on." The Doctor told her. "Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened. She just vanished."

"I know." Kari told them, keeping her gaze firmly locked on the grass beneath her.

"Kari, do you know what's going to happen?" The Doctor asked her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah, I do. Sorry."

He just frowned at her. "I don't know what you're sorry for. We just got to meet Agatha Christie."

"That may be, but if I know what's going to happen, then you should have worked out that it isn't all going to be fun and games." She warned him.

The Doctor knew in an instant that something was going to happen, something bad. He also knew not to press Kari for information. "Her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later, Agatha Christie turns up in a hotel in Harrogate. Said she'd lost her memory. She never spoke about the disappearance till the day she died, but whatever it was…"

"It's about to happen." Donna said, finishing off what the Doctor was saying.

"Right here, right now." He whispered.

"Now, it starts." Kari mumbled, as the housekeeper came charging out of the house in a frenzy.

"Professor! The library! Murder! Murder!" She shouted, running across the lawn.

Everyone was quick to follow her back into the house and to the library where the professor was lying on the floor, dead.

"Oh, my goodness." The butler said at the sight he saw.

"Bashed on the head. Blunt instrument. Watch broke as he fell. Time of death was quarter past four." The Doctor announced, after inspecting the body.

The Doctor started shuffling through the papers sitting on the desk, trying to find anything that would help. Kari just leaned against the bookcase, knowing exactly what had happened and why.

"A bit of pipe." Donna said. "Call me Hercules Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kari saw Agatha pick something out of the extinguished fireplace. "Nothing worth killing for in that lot." The Doctor told her, having seen her pick it up as well. "Dry as dust."

"Hold on. The body in the library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead piping?" Donna commented to the Doctor as Kari walked over to them.

"I know, a right game of cluedo isn't it?" Kari mumbled, so that only the pair of them could hear her.

"Let me see." Lady Eddison called, forcing her way into the room.

"Out of my way."

"Gerald?" Lady Eddison called, as everyone else let their comments slip out as well.

"Someone should call the police." Agatha decided.

"You don't have to." The Doctor told her, pulling out his psychic paper again. "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. My wife and Miss Noble are the plucky young girls who help me out." Kari couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. She was going to have words with him later.

"I say." Lady Eddison said, a little impressed.

"Mrs Christie was right. Go to the sitting room. I will question each of you in turn." The Doctor told them, waiting for them all to leave the room.

"Come along. Do as the Doctor says. Leave the room undisturbed." Agatha said, ushering everyone out of the room and leaving Kari, the Doctor and Donna alone.

"The plucky young girls who help me out?" Donna asked him, the annoyance clear in her tone.

Kari let out a sigh as she kneeled down and looked at something on the floor. "No policewomen in 1926." She told her as the Doctor came and joined her.

"I'll pluck you in a minute. Why didn't we phone the real police?"

"Well the last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in, especially now Kari's found this. Morphic residue." He said, scraping some yellow goo off the floor.

"Morphic?" Donna asked. "Doesn't sound very 1926."

"It's not. It's left behind when certain species genetically re-encode." Kari muttered. She knew this episode well, and she was starting to wonder what factors were going to change with her there.

Donna just looked at her. "The murders an alien?"

The Doctor nodded at her. "Which means one of that lot is an alien in human form."

"Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie." Donna seemed to be getting a little more excited about it all now.

"So? Happens to us all the time." The Doctor replied, making no big deal about it all.

"No, but isn't that a bit weird Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really. I mean, that's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts at Christmas."

The Doctor just looked at Kari and they couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, not met him yet. But really looking forward to that."

"Oh, come on! It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy." Donna said trying to make reason of it all. "Could we? Noddy's not real. Is he? Tell me there's no Noddy?"

"There's no Noddy." The Doctor told her, getting her to calm down a little as they finally left the library.

"Next thing you know, you'll be telling me it's like 'Murder on the Orient Express', and they all did it."

Kari just rolled her eyes, she wondered if she was going to arrive for that adventure. The Orient Express in space. She wondered if the Doctor had already gone back for her.

"Murder on the Orient Express?" Agatha asked, having overheard Donna.

"Ooh, yeah. One of your best." The ginger woman said.

"But not yet." Kari whispered to her, getting her to shut up.

"Marvellous idea, though." Agatha said, pondering on the suggestion.

"Yeah. Tell you what. Copyright Donna Noble, okay?"

Kari and the Doctor both rolled their eyes at her. "Anyway. Agatha and I will question the suspects. Kari, Donna, you search the bedrooms. Look for clues." The Doctor said, before leaning in to whisper. "Any more residue." Kari and Donna nodded at him. "You'll need this." He pulled out a rather big magnifying glass.

"Is that for real?" Donna asked, hoping that he was joking. When Kari pulled her own one out from her pockets, Donna knew he was serious.

"Go on. You're ever so plucky." The Doctor said, smiling away. She snatched the magnifying glass from his hands and the two women headed up the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: I actually got really frustrated when writing this episode, and it shows in the next chapter (Well it does for me). It almost ended up being a three parter, but I worked around it and managed to keep it at two. **

**I know a lot of you are waiting for the Doctor and Kari to finally get together, well don't worry, it's coming soon. But You're going to have to wait for at least another episode before that happens. **

**Reviews. Thank you to everyone who has, and I am so glad that you all like the story still. So keep them coming, you have no idea how much they make me smile. **

**My list of episodes people want to see is ever growing, but I think I've managed to fit most of them in. Just a few more to add. It's actually really hard putting them in an order. It's not a random selection process, I actually sit there and think about the episodes. **

**Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Thank you all for reviewing, and favouriting/following, you guys totally rock. **

**Pippa.**


	26. The Unicorn and the Wasp Pt2

**A/N: I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I started my school placement and still being ill just drained everything i had left. Please forgive me and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"I'm gonna kill him one of these days." Donna moaned as they searched the rooms upstairs.

"Get in line, Donna. I'm first. I still owe him an earful when I see him somewhere in his past." Kari told her, pulling out her sonic screwdriver and turning it on. "I'm also going to kill him if he keeps telling everyone I'm his wife."

Donna just smiled at her a little. "It's only your cover story. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Well, there's nothing in here either. Come on, let's go and check out the other rooms." Kari didn't feel much like talking. She was thinking about the Doctor too much, when she knew she needed to focus on the task at hand. "Let's try this one." She said, stopping at the door she knew would be locked.

"You won't find anything in there." The butler said, creeping up on the pair.

"How comes it's locked?" Donna asked, trying the door again.

"Lady Eddison commands it to be so."

"And I command it to be otherwise. Scotland Yard. Pip, pip." Donna ordered, moving away from the door so that he could unlock it for them. "Why's it locked in the first place?"

"Many years ago, when my father was butler to the family, Lady Eddison returned from India with malaria. She locked herself in this room for six months until she recovered. Since then, the room has remained undisturbed."

He opened the door and Kari and Donna stepped inside, the butler right behind them. "There's nothing in here." He insisted.

"How long's it been empty?" Donna asked, as they both looked around the room. It looked like it was made up for a child. The curtains were closed and there was a teddy at the end of the bed.

"Forty years." The butler told them.

"Why would she seal it off?" Donna wondered. "All right, we need to investigate. You just buttle off." Kari made sure to close the door properly before she looked around the room with Donna.

"So, what do you think, Donna?" Kari asked, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the window.

"I dunno. It seems a little bit weird if you ask me. Why lock up a room for forty years? Unless you were hiding something." Kari couldn't help but smile at her.

"Very good, Miss Noble. We'll make a detective out of you yet." Donna couldn't help but laugh at her a little.

"1926, they've still got bees." Donna said, hearing the buzzing noise. "Oh, what a noise. All right, busy bee, I'll let you out."

"No, Donna. Just, stay there. Let me do this." Donna just looked at her. "Trust me, get ready to run."

Kari cautiously walks over to the window and pulls back the red curtain, revealing a rather abnormally large wasp hovering around outside the window.

"That's impossible." Donna cried as it smashed through the window.

"_Doctor! Get your backside up here right now!" _Kari cried, hoping that he could hear her.

"Doctor!" Donna called, backing away from the advancing wasp and over to the window.

"Donna, sun, magnifying glass." Kari called to her. Donna got the hint and the magnifying glass up, angling it so that the light hit the wasp.

It screeched in pain and Donna made a run for the door with Kari.

"Doctor!" They both shouted as soon as the door was closed. They turned around and jumped when they heard a thud, and saw the sing sticking through the bottom half of the door.

"It's a giant wasp." Donna cried, as the Doctor and Agatha arrived.

"What do you mean, a giant wasp?" The Doctor asked, looking at her and Kari in confusion.

"I mean, a wasp that's giant."

"It's only a silly little insect." Agatha told her, not understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean flipping enormous." Donna cried. "Look at its sting." She said, moving away from the door.

The Doctor and Agatha looked at it with wide eyes. "Let me see." The Doctor pushed the door open and ran into the room. "It's gone." He said, noticing the room was now empty. "Buzzed off."

"But that's fascinating." Agatha said, getting a better look at the sting stuck in the door.

"Don't touch it." Kari cried, pulling the woman away from it. "Doctor, can I show you?" She asked him, feeling a little nervous. He nodded at her and went and stood in front of her. She placed her hands on the side of his head before resting her forehead against his. She let him see exactly what happened when the wasp crashed into the room.

When she pulled away the Doctor was smiling at her. "You're getting good at that." He told her, making her blush a little. She had wanted to try doing something like that for a while now, and she wasn't even sure it was going to work when she showed him what happened with Van Statten. But it had, and now she was finding it easier to concentrate on doing it.

He went over to the stinger and scraped off some of the residue that had been left behind with a pencil and wiped it off in a test tube. "Giant wasp. Well, tons of amorphous insectivorous life forms, but none in this galactic vector."

"I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty." Agatha said, looking at him strangely.

"Lost its sting though. That makes it defenceless." Donna pointed out.

"Oh, creature that size?" The Doctor said, thinking and smiling at Kari. "Got to be able to grow a new one."

"And it will have by the next time we see it." Kari mumbled.

"Can we return to sanity? There are no such things as giant wasps." It would appear that Agatha was getting a little irritated with the way the Doctor was carrying on now.

"Exactly. So, the question is, what's it doing here?" He said, looking at Kari.

"Sorry, Doctor. Spoilers. I'm going to have to let you work this one out on your own." She told him, knowing he was hoping for some information from her.

"Not even a little bit of help?" He pleaded.

Kari just shook her head. "Sorry. But I'll give you one tiny, little thing. You're in for a shock later." He looked at her in complete and utter confusion. He really had no idea what she was saying.

They three of them were heading down the stairs when they heard someone scream from outside. Kari grabbed the Doctor's hand and dragged him outside, the others following behind. They made it to Miss Chandrakala, the housekeeper, lying on the gravel with a stone gargoyle on top of her. There was blood coming from her mouth, her eyes open. Kari knew she was barely alive and wouldn't last much longer.

"The poor… little… child." The woman managed to say, before taking her last breath.

That was when they heard the buzzing again and saw the wasp above them. "There!" The Doctor called, pointing to it. "Come on!" He grabbed Kari and pulled her back inside the house with him, trying to find where the wasp was going.

"Hey, this makes a change. There's a monster, and we're chasing it." Donna called as she followed behind with Agatha.

"It can't be a monster." Agatha protested. "It's a trick. They do it with mirrors." She suddenly changed her mind when they came face to face with it in the corridor up stairs. "By all that's holy."

"Oh, but you are wonderful." The Doctor commented, looking at it in awe. Kari couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, he always got that way when he saw something new. "Now, just stop. Stop there." He ordered it, as it came towards them.

It only just missed them when Donna pulled out her magnifying glass. "Oi, fly boy." She called, getting its attention. It flew off, scared that it was going to be hurt again.

"Come on, we can't let it get away. We have to catch it before it reverts back to human form." Kari said, dragging the Doctor along the corridor with her.

"Where are you? Come no. There's nowhere to run. Show yourself." He shouted. All the doors along the corridor opened, and the occupants stepped out slightly. "Oh, that's just cheating." The Doctor moaned.

They managed to get everyone into the drawing room, and the Doctor told them all what had happened, and that another person had now been murdered.

"My faithful companion, this is terrible." Lady Eddison cried.

"Excuse me, my lady, but she was on her way to tell you something." Davenport told her.

"She never found me. She had an appointment with death instead."

"She said, 'the poor little child'. Does that mean anything to anyone?" The Doctor asked, looking around the room at everyone.

"No children in this house for years. Highly unlikely there will be." Colonel Curbishley said, looking at his son.

"Mrs Christie, you must have twigged something. You've written simply the best detective stories." Lady Eddison told her, hoping that she would be able to solve the murders.

"Tell us, what would Poirot do?" Reverend Golightly asked her.

It would appear that even Colonel Curbishley thought she could work it all out. "Heaven's sake, cards on the table, woman. You should be helping us."

"But, I'm merely a writer." She protested. Kari couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she was having so much pressure put on her, so much expected from her.

"But surely you can crack it?" Robina said. "These events, they're exactly like one of your plots." She pointed out.

"That's what I've been saying." Donna called out. "Agatha, that's going to mean something."

"But what?" Agatha asked. "I've no answers. None. I'm sorry, all of you. I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help is, then it's the Doctor, not me." Everyone just turned and looked at him expectantly.

"_Your time to shine, Doctor."_ Kari called to him, as Agatha walked out of the room.

Everyone started getting back to whatever they were doing before hand, while Donna went to check on Agatha, leaving Kari and the Doctor alone.

"So, who's the murderer then?" The Doctor asked her, hoping that she would slip up and tell him.

"The wasp." She replied, grinning at him. "Come on, how many times have I ever slipped up?"

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. "Only a few times. But it was never anything big." He told her.

"Well then, nice try, but not going to work."

"Are you okay? You've been really quiet. I know it's still early, but you're usually more talkative than this. Especially when you're around Donna." He asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know what I've been through lately, I'm just trying to forget it all." She told him, leaning into his hold.

"Well, everything is fine now, I promise you." He said, kissing the top of her head.

That was when Donna and Agatha came back into the room, holding a small box. "Ah, you found something." Kari said, pulling away from the Doctor and letting him take the box.

"Ooh, someone came here tooled up. The sort of stuff a thief would use." The Doctor commented, seeing all the lock picking tools in the small box.

"The Unicorn. He's here." Agatha said in realisation.

"The Unicorn and the wasp." Kari and the Doctor said at the same time. The Doctor smiled at her, and she just smiled back.

"Your drinks, ladies. Doctor." The butler said, handing the drinks out.

"Very good, Greeves." The Doctor said, watching the butler leave.

"How about the science stuff. What did you find?" Donna asked, sitting on the sofa with Kari while the Doctor said in the armchair.

"Vespiform sting. Vespiforms have got hives in the…" He stared.

"Silfrax galaxy." Kari said at the same time, earning herself another smile.

"Again, you talk like Edward Lear." Agatha commented, not understanding a word they were saying.

"But for some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books." The Doctor said to Agatha, before taking a swig of his drink.

"Cone on, Agatha What would Miss Marple do? She'd have overheard something vital by now, because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady." Donna said, earning a nudge from Kari.

"Not yet, Donna." She whispered to her friend.

"Clever idea. Miss Marple? Who writes those?"

"Er, copyright Donna Noble. Add it to the list." Donna said cheerfully.

"Kari, Donna…"

Donna rolled her eyes while Kari looked at him with her eyes widened. "Okay, we could split the copyright."

"No, something inhibiting his enzymes." Kari said, rushing over to him as he cried out in pain. "He's been poisoned."

"What do we do? What do we do?" Donna asked in a panic.

Agatha sniffed the drink. "Bitter almonds. It's cyanide. Sparkling cyanide."

"Come on, kitchen, quickly." Kari said, dragging the Doctor along with her. "Don't worry, Doctor. I got this one. I know what you need, so just take it easy okay?" She said, trying to calm him a little.

"Ginger beer, I need ginger beer, right now." Kari shouted.

"The woman's gone mad." The cook called.

Kari just rolled her eyes and grabbed it from Davenport, giving to the Doctor. "I'm an expert in poisons. There is no cure. It's fatal." Agatha told the pair.

"Not for him it isn't. He can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal." Kari told her, grabbing a jar of walnuts. "Protein." She said, given them to the Doctor.

"Brilliant." He said, shoving them into his mouth.

"Salt, not salt salt, that's too salty. How about some anchovies?" Kari said, grabbing them from the side and shoving them into the Doctor's hands.

He emptied the jar into his mouth. This was the bit that Kari had been dreading, this was the shock he was going to get. "Okay, right, now you need a shock. Okay, a shock. Remember I said you were in for a shock later? Well here it is." She closed her eyes tightly. "In 1941 I kissed Jack."

The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes, Kari didn't know if he was upset, angry or just hurt. But she knew she needed to make it better. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him closer to her, kissing him fiercely.

When she finally let go of him, but not before he had kissed her back, a black cloud of smoke escaped from his mouth. "Detox. Oh, I must do that more often." He said, avoiding looking at Kari.

"Doctor, you are impossible. Who are you?" Agatha asked.

"_I'm sorry." _Kari called to him, knowing that she was now in some serious trouble. He still didn't look at her as he rushed out of the room.

"Hey, you okay?" Donna asked her, putting an arm around her.

Kari just shook her head. "He's going to hate me for a long time now." She whispered, holding back the tears that were forming in her eyes. She couldn't think of any other way to really shock him, and in all honesty, she didn't want Donna to kiss him.

"Nah, I'm sure he'll get over it. I mean, you only told him to shock him didn't you. I mean, it wasn't true, was it?" Donna asked her.

But all Kari could do was nod at her. "It is true, Donna. 1941, his space ship, tethered up to Big Ben." She let out a sigh. "I knew it was going to get me into trouble one day." She mumbled, before walking out of the room.

Kari found herself sitting out in the garden, away from the Doctor and everyone else. Her head was reeling, she knew the moment she had kissed Jack that it was going to bring her nothing but trouble, but she hadn't been able to resist. And that was before she knew what she did now. it was long before she knew about how the Doctor felt about her.

She let out a sigh and put her head in her hands. She had wanted to stop the Doctor from drinking the poison completely, but she had been so focused on stopping Donna from saying something she shouldn't, that it completely slipped her mind. It was her fault that he had been poisoned, she should have stopped it.

At least that was what she kept thinking, and now the Doctor couldn't even look at her.

It was starting to get dark when she headed back inside the house. The first person she bumped into was Donna. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you." She asked her.

"Just… thinking." Kari told her quietly.

"Come on, everyone is getting ready for dinner." Donna said, linking her arm through Kari's.

She just shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm not really hungry. You go, I'll just… wait in the drawing room or something." Kari didn't want to face the Doctor, and she was sure that he didn't want to see her either.

Donna just frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Really, just go. Keep an eye on the Doctor and Agatha. Listen for the buzzing." Kari told her, before slipping away from her.

Donna just headed towards the dining room on her own. "Kari's not coming." Donna told the Doctor when she found him.

He didn't say anything, he just nodded at her and they went in the room for dinner.

Kari was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room, playing out everything that was going on at dinner in her head. She knew what was going to happen, and she really didn't want to be there. She knew that she was safe in the drawing room on her own.

It wasn't long later when the door opened and the Doctor and Agatha came in. Kari quickly shifted her gaze to the floor as Agatha sat on the sofa opposite while the Doctor stood.

"That poor footman." Donna said, as she came into the room. "Roger's dead and he can't even mourn him.1926? It's more like the dark ages."

"Did you enquire after the necklace?" Agatha asked her as she sat beside her.

"Lady Eddison brought it back from India. It's worth thousands." Donna told her.

"This thing can sting, it can fly. It could wipe us all out in seconds. Why is it playing this game?" The Doctor wondered, trying his best not to look at Kari. He knew that she was sorry, he could tell by the way she was giving him space and from what Donna had told him. But it still hurt him.

"Every murder is essentially the same. They are committed because somebody wants something." Agatha told him.

"What does a Vespiform want?"

"Doctor, stop it." Agatha called. "The murderer is as human as you or I."

"You're right. Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert." He cried, looking at the woman.

"I'm not. I told you. I'm just a purveyor of nonsense."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because plenty of people write detective stories, but your are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived, you've fought, you've had your heart broken. You know about people. Their passions, their hopes, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this, it's you." The Doctor told her.

"You know what, I'm bored of this now. Let's just get it over with." Kari said, getting up from where she was sitting.

It didn't take long for everyone to gather in the drawing room. "I've called you here on this endless night, because we have a murderer in out midst." The Doctor told them. "Now, there is one person in this room who knows exactly who the murderer is, and every other secret you are hiding." Kari got up from where she was sitting and looked around the room.

"Robina Redmond." She said, looking at the woman. "You're the Unicorn. The real Robina Redmond never left London, and since these people have never met her before, you took her place. You saw the chance and you grasped it with both hands." She said, staring the woman down.

"How silly. What proof do you have?" Robina asked.

"Apart from the fact that your tools of the trade were found in the flowerbed below your toilet window?"

"Oh, all right then. It's a fair cop. Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think." She said, with a very cockney accent. "I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail." She tossed the Firestone at the Doctor who was quick to catch it.

Kari let her gaze fall on the Colonel. "Is there something you wish to tell your wife, Colonel Curbishley?" She asked him.

"Damn it, woman. You've rumbled me." He said, getting up from his wheel chair.

"Hugh, you can walk. But why?" Lady Eddison asked him in shock.

"It was his way of making sure you never left him. He was afraid you would leave him for someone else who could turn your head." Kari told her. "Now, onto the second biggest secret being held in this house, which actually leads to the first."

She looked over at Lady Eddison. "The Firestone. Brought back from India by Lady Eddison, before she met the Colonel. She came home with malaria, and confined herself to the house for six months, in a room that has been locked ever since."

"Stop, please." Lady Eddison cried.

"I'm sorry." Kari told her softly. "But you fell pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid who later became your housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala."

"Clemency, is this true?" The Colonel asked her.

"My poor baby." She cried. "I had to give him away. The shame of it."

"Lady Eddison, it wasn't a normal pregnancy, was it?" Kari asked her, knowing that it would soon be time to hand it over to the Doctor. She knew that she had stolen the limelight from Agatha Christie, but she just wanted it all over now. She wanted to leave, she wanted to jump somewhere else.

"How can you know that?" Lady Eddison asked.

"When you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, it can't be. Why did you say that?" The Doctor asked, finally taking over.

"You'd never believe it."

"The Doctor has opened my mind to believe many things." Agatha told the woman gently.

"It was forty years ago, in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape." Lady Eddison explained.

"I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was Taken At The Flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always."

"Just like a man. Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven." Robina said, earning a fierce glare from Kari.

"A poor little child. Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate." Agatha said. Kari had filled her in on everything before they summoned everyone else. She didn't care that she was now taking over. As long as it was all over with soon.

"Oh, that's maiden. Maiden name." Donna called in realisation.

"Precisely" Agatha told her. "Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you."

"Reverend Golightly, you are the murderer. You are the Vespiform. You are Lady Eddison's lost child." Kari called out, finally getting to the end of her tether. She couldn't stand the way the Doctor was avoiding her.

"You realised your inheritance. After all these years, you knew who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off, because this isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone." The Doctor added, trying to explain everything and reason what Kari had said.

"It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha."

"Dame?" Agatha questioned.

"Oh. Sorry, not yet." The Doctor mumbled, realising his mistake.

When the Reverend tried to protest, his voice started buzzing. He became more and more angry and suddenly turned into the giant wasp that everyone had heard about.

"No. No more murder. If my imagination made you kill, them my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature." Agatha called, running out of the room with the Firestone in her hand.

Kari watched as the Doctor and Donna both ran out after her, the Vespiform right behind them. She knew what was going to happen now, and she didn't care if she missed it. At the end of it, he would die, but let Agatha Christie live.

She decided to make her way back to the TARDIS. The moment she placed her hand on the door, it clicked open. "Thanks." She whispered to the ship as she stepped inside. She made her way to her room, knowing that the Doctor and Donna would come back with Agatha, drop her off at a hotel in Harrogate with no memory of what had happened.

The TARDIS gave a little hum and a shake, letting Kari know that the Doctor and Donna were back. But she didn't move. She stayed on her bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had just happened. She pulled the small blue box out of her bag and opened it. As she looked at the ring, tears started prickling her eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Again I am sorry for taking so long to update. Only 4 more weeks till half term though. **

**I hope you liked this chapter, I had more idea's for this episode then I knew what to do with. So let me know what you guys think. I promise to get the next chapter up during the week. **

**And a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed and those who have stuck with the story when i've not updated as regularly as I should have. **

**Pippa.**


	27. Boom Town Pt1

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry. been a very busy week. Teaching, planning, school trips. But I promise you, this chapter is going to have been worth the wait.**

* * *

Kari must have cried herself to sleep, as she woke up to someone knocking on her door. She noticed she still had the ring in her hand, and quickly shoved it back in her bag before stuffing it under her bed.

She dragged herself over to the door and found the Doctor standing there. Her eyes instantly went to the floor. "Everything okay, Doctor?" She asked him quietly.

"I think we need to have a little chat, don't you?" Kari didn't like the way he was speaking. She could just tell he was trying to keep himself under control and not lose his temper with her.

"Sure." She answered, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her.

As they walked, she kept her arms tightly wrapped around herself, while the Doctor kept his in his trouser pockets. She didn't look up, she just followed where he was going. It wasn't until he stopped in front of a door that she finally looked up a little.

He led her into a room that she had never been in before, his study. "So, you kissed Jack?" He asked her, after they had both been sitting in silence for some time.

Kari just nodded at him, still refusing to look up at him. "Yeah." She whispered.

"In 1941?" She nodded again. "I think you had better explain."

Kari let out a sigh, he really was going to hate her after all of this. "I jumped and ended up on his ship. I'd actually just left you, after we had gone to that space diner make entirely of glass."

He frowned at her. "That was a long time ago."

"I know. It was only the fourth time that I had jumped. He was pointing a gun at me. I sort of explained that I knew him in the future, mentioned a few things that no one else knew about him to get him to trust me." She told him. "I was a bit annoyed with you at the time. Because you were keeping secrets from me. This thing that everyone knows except me. Jack was the only person not to be hiding things from me."

"So that's why you done it? To get back at me? To hurt me?" The Doctor spat at her.

"No. I did it because I wanted to. I knew that it would only ever happen once, and I just took my chance. Rose was passed out on the bed, and I just kissed him." Kari had to force back the tears that were building. She didn't want them to fall, she knew the Doctor was upset and angry with her, and he had every right to be. "I knew as soon as it had happened that I was going to get into trouble for it. I even told Jack that."

"But you done it. That's what matters." He was definitely not happy with her.

"I know. And I know that right now you hate me for it. I just don't understand why it has upset you so much." She whispered. She knew she had to be careful, she didn't want him to know that she actually did know the truth now.

"Kari, one day, you will understand. I'm not sure when, but you will understand why this has hurt me."

"I never meant to hurt you. It's just… everyone knows something that I don't, something about me. It's something that is altering the time lines that I know. Everything is being rewritten with me around, and I'm just so sick of not knowing what it is." She told him.

"So after telling me that, why did you kiss me? Did you think that would just make it all better?" He asked, the anger still in his voice, but not as much.

"No."

"Then enlighten me, why did you kiss me?" He asked her.

"Because I wanted to. And I knew that if I didn't, then Donna would." She confessed. "You needed a shock. If I hadn't have done that, if I hadn't told you, or kissed you, then it would have been Donna doing it. I know, because that was how it was meant to be."

"So you kissed me so Donna wouldn't?" He asked her, a frown on his face. Kari just nodded. The whole time she had not looked up at him. "Why? Why did you not want her to kiss me?"

She didn't know if she really wanted to answer that question. She didn't know if she could. "Because… because I…" A tear rolled down her face and dripped onto her hand in her lap.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Kari, I know none of this is easy for you. And I know there are times when we argue. I hate those times, and I also hate seeing you cry." He told her, before moving and sitting next to her, pulling her closer.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor. I really never meant to hurt you. I never knew it would upset you this much. I was only thinking about myself at the time. I didn't care what you thought." She told him, finally letting the tears stream down her face.

"Just, promise me you won't do it again? No more going around and kissing random people." He voice was much softer now, he knew how much Kari was sorry.

"I promise." She whispered, burying her head into his chest and crying a little more.

"Come on, you should go and get some rest. I know you need it."

Kari just shook her head. "No, I don't want to disappear when I'm on my own. You've always been there so far when I've left, I don't want to fall asleep in my room and wake up somewhere else."

The Doctor thought about her words for a moment. "Well, you still need to get some rest. So come with me." He pushed her away a little and held his hands out to help her up.

He held her close as they walked down the corridor a little until they reach a room that Kari had only been in twice before. The Doctor opened the door and ushered her inside, before leading her over to the bed.

"Now, you really do need to get some rest. I know from experience that this is going to have completely drained you. Even if you are a Time Lady." He told her, taking his jacket off and then undoing his trainers.

"You're not going to leave me here alone, are you?" Kari asked him, taking her own shoes off before lying down on the bed.

"Of course not. I could do with a few hours sleep myself." He told her, plonking himself down on the bed beside her. "I'll never leave you, Kari. Remember that." He whispered to her, before kissing the top of her head.

"You better not. Or I'll find a way to hunt you down and make you suffer." She warned him, shifting over on the bed so that she was resting against him.

Both of them fell asleep with a smile on their faces. Kari knew the Doctor was no longer upset with her, because he knew just how sorry she was for it. He knew that she didn't do it just to upset him, her world had just been turn upside down.

Kari opened her eyes when she heard someone clearing their throat. "Excuse me, do you mind telling me what your doing in my bed?" A familiar voice called to her.

She quickly sat up and looked towards the voice. Her eyes widened when she saw the Doctor standing there in nothing but a towel. But it wasn't just any Doctor, it was the one she had been so keen to avoid.

"Well? I'm waiting." Kari could tell from his voice that he was less than happy to see her.

She didn't answer him, she just climbed to the end of the bed and stumbled over to the door. Once she was out in the corridor she charged to her own room, throwing the door opened and reaching under her bed.

She pulled out her bag and ran back out again. Kari could feel both her hearts pounding in her chest as she ran as fast as she could to the console room. She knew that as long as she made it outside, she could get away from him, even though she had no idea where they were up to. Kari didn't care, she just wanted to get away from him as quickly as she could.

The two people in the console room just stared at her as she entered. "Oh my God. Kari, you're okay." Rose called. "Where have you been?"

"Hi Rose, Jack. Bye." Kari said, placing a hand on the door. She as she went to open it, she heard it click and lock. "Oh, come on. You have got to be kidding me." She shouted in frustration.

"You going somewhere?" The Doctor asked her, now fully dressed and wearing his black leather jacket.

"Yeah, as far away from you as possible." She spat at him. She was tempted to reach into her bag and pull out her vortex manipulator there and then, but she remembered River's words. He could never know she had it.

"Tough. You're staying here." He told her smugly, walking around the console.

"Oh, you think so do you?" She asked, stepping over to Jack. "Funny thing is, I know exactly how to get out of here without having to use the door."

The Doctor just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. See, you seem to be forgetting, I know an ex-time agent, who just so happens to have a vortex manipulator." Kari could actually feel her eyes starting to burn a little. She was still angry with him, and knowing that Jack was still there meant she knew it was after he abandoned her in Leadworth.

The Doctor snorted at her. "You don't even know how to use it. And it's broken anyway."

She just pulled out her sonic screwdriver and smiled at Jack as she stood next to him. "How about it, Jack? You and me, we can go anywhere in the whole of time and space. Just the two of us."

Jack didn't really know what to say to her, she could tell she was angry, but he could see the Doctor was getting angry as well. Kari could see his hesitation. "Come on, Jack. Just us, taking on the rest of the universe. How can you resist such an offer?"

"I think you and the Doctor need to talk. Better to leave me out of this." He said, kissing the top of her head before walking away from her.

Kari had not expected that, she had hoped that he would have been on her side. "You're loss, Jack." She said, shrugging her shoulders and trying to stay calm.

"Looks like you're stuck here." The Doctor told her smugly.

"No, I'm really not. I know a lot more than you do. I can jump at any minute, and end up as far away from you as possible. I could go to my room and disappear." Kari told him, knowing that she could use her vortex manipulator if she was alone.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"Wouldn't I? Just like I wouldn't walk away from you if I were given that chance? If I recall correctly, you dropped me off on Earth, and I walked away without even turning back."

There was a smirk on the Doctor's face now. "Yup, and you've ended up right back here. Worked out well for you that, didn't it?"

That was when Kari lost it. "Do you really think I want to be here with you? I seriously hate you. I've always hated you in this regeneration." She shouted at him. "You are just so full of yourself. Like I said before, you think you are so much better than everyone else. You carry on like you are the only one that matters in the universe. Well guess what, Doctor, you're not."

"I do not…"

"Shut the hell up" She spat, her eyes were now burning brightly and the Doctor took a step back. "Do you know how many people have died and will die because of you? Those people, the ones who give their lives for someone else, they are the ones that matter."

"Kari…" The Doctor tried again, only for her to cut him off once more.

"You think that you are the only one who was hurt from the Time War? You think you are the only one who lost everything? Well you're not." Kari shouted. "You think you're so special because you're the last of your kind, but you really aren't. Because you're not the last."

She took a step closer to him, making him tense up. He couldn't remember a time when she had been so angry with him. "One day, you tell me how I truly am the same as you. So you're not alone, not while I'm still alive."

The Doctor just stared at her. "I think you need to calm down."

"No, I don't need to calm down. You need to stop being so egotistic and realise that not everything is about you."

"Oh, stop acting like a martyr." The Doctor said, rolling his eyes at her.

That made Kari snap completely, and her fist came into contact with the Doctor's face. She didn't care that it hurt, she was just so full of anger and just couldn't hold it in any more. She glared at him, ready to pounce on him when she felt someone's arms around her waist.

"Hey, you need to calm down now, Princess." Jack whispered to her.

"No, he needs to let me leave." She hissed, still glaring at the Doctor who was rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "I don't want to be anywhere near him. So far, the only time I have liked him has been when he found me, after I had been locked up for months."

"Van Statten." The Doctor spat, remembering that day all too well.

"That was the first time I actually saw you care about someone other than yourself. That was the only time you actually listened to me." Kari was ready to just break down in tears now. She still had Jack holding her back, but she wasn't really fighting him.

"I always listen to you." The Doctor told her softly.

She just shook her head at him. "No you don't." Kari told him, before taking a deep breath. "Let me go please, Jack. I want to go to my room."

Jack looked over at the Doctor who just shook his head at him. "Sorry, Princess. You need to stay here."

"Can someone at least tell me where we are then?" Kari asked, letting out a sigh.

"Cardiff." Rose called to her. Straight away her eyes lit up. If they were in Cardiff, it meant that Mickey was coming, and it also meant that a friend of hers would be around as well.

"Brilliant. I love Cardiff." Kari said, a little bit too enthusiastically for the Doctor's liking.

"Oh, and why is that then?" The Doctor asked, as he got to work doing some repairs.

"That's for me to know, and you to never, ever find out." Kari replied, glaring at him as Jack took her hand and pulled her along the console with him.

"Kari, I know you're not in the best of moods with the Doctor, but you really do need to calm down now." He whispered to her. "He came back, we all looked for you but it was like you had just vanished. The Doctor was frantic, he didn't know what to do."

"Yeah? Well it was his own fault, Jack." Kari told him in a huff. She really wasn't in a good mood, all she wanted to do was get out of there. "The only good thing about being here is that I get to see you again."

She sat herself down on the chair when there was a knocking on the door. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, glaring at Kari, before unlocking it.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack asked as he pulled the door open.

"What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" A familiar male voice called from outside. Kari couldn't help but smile a little, she knew who it was.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."

"Get out of my way." The voice called, pushing Jack aside and stepping into the TARDIS.

"Don't tell me. This must be Mickey." Jack said as he closed the door.

"Here comes trouble. How you doing, Ricky boy?" The Doctor asked, still working away.

"It's Mickey." He shouted up to him as Rose went over to see her friend.

"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Rose told him, glad to see him.

"You look fantastic." Mickey told her, before giving her a hug.

"Aw, sweet, look at those two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack called, looking up at the Doctor.

"Buy me a drink first."

"You're such hard work." Jack said, sending a wink to Kari, hoping that it would cheer her up. But it didn't.

"But worth it." Kari let out a laugh at the Doctor's comment. Right now, she didn't think he was worth anything.

Kari just let her mind wander while the four of them talked. She already knew what they were saying. Explaining about the rift, the Gelth and how it's fuel for the TARDIS. All she could think about was getting out of there. She just wanted to run, as far as she could.

She had been dreading the time when she would end up back with him after what had happened. Kari knew that he was sorry, in the future, but right now, she still couldn't forgive him.

"You alright, Kari?" Mickey asked, coming and sitting next to her while Jack helped the Doctor with something.

"Be better when I'm out of here and away from dumbo over there." She said, nodding towards the Doctor.

Mickey couldn't help but laugh a little, which brought a smile to Kari's face. "Roes told me what happened. And I'm on your side, one hundred percent. Now come on, I didn't come to Cardiff to spend all day in this box. I came to spend it with my two favourite girls."

Mickey took one of her arms, and Jack took the other. Kari didn't know if she should feel flattered to be having so much attention, or worried for the real reason behind it.

"Should take another twenty four hours, which means we've got time to kill." The Doctor said as they stepped outside. He kept glancing at Kari, waiting for her to run most likely, at least that's what Kari was thinking.

"That old lady's staring." Mickey pointed out.

"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box." Jack said, giving Kari a sly grin.

"What are you the captain of, the innuendo squad?" Mickey retorted.

"Oi, leave him alone, Mickey. He actually worked his way up through the ranks. And Jack is a captain of more than you will ever know." Kari said, whacking him on the arm lightly before going to drag the pair away.

"Wait, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey wondered.

"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack asked as well.

"I thought you loved the retro look, Harkness?" Kari asked, a smile on her face as she looked up at the water tower, knowing they were being watched.

"Oh, I love more than just that." He said, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Do you two mind not flirting?" The Doctor growled.

Kari just glared at him before sending Jack a wink. She was going to do everything she could to wind him up now. "It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands. If we were in Ancient Rome then it would be a statue on a plinth. Except someone landed in the 1960's, it disguised as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." She explained.

"So it copied the real thing?" Mickey asked her while the Doctor just stood there, looking slightly annoyed.

"Yup, on street corners. They would phone for help, in a time before they had radios and mobile phones. Shove people inside if the arrested them while they waited for backup." She said, a smirk on her face.

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asked the Doctor.

"I like it don't you?" The Doctor answered,

"Actually, he really doesn't know how to fix it, that's why. Anyway, come on. Cardiff, in the early twenty first century. I'd call it the safest place in the universe, but we're here." Kari tugged on Jack and Mickey's arms, pulling them along with her as she walked.

"You okay, Doctor?" She heard Rose asked as she strolled past them both.

"I've never seen Kari so angry with me before, and it's still early for her." He whispered to her as they followed behind the trio. "I thought she would have known by now."

"Yeah, but we both know she does find out. I mean, she told us didn't she? Well, she yelled at you a little." Rose said, thinking of a future Kari.

"She really does hate me, Rose. And I don't think there is anything I can ever do to change that." He said, letting out a sigh as they made their way to a restaurant at the end of one of the jetties.

"I swear, six feet tall and with tusks!" Jack said as they all sat down together. He was telling them all one of his stories, one that Kari already knew.

"You're lying through your teeth." The Doctor said, clearly not impressed. It hadn't helped that Kari had not left Jack's side.

"I'd have gone bonkers. That's the word, bonkers!" Rose said, a smile on her face.

"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean TUSKS!And it's woken, and it's not happy." Jack continued.

"How could you not know it was there?" The Doctor asked.

"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked!"

"Naked?!" Rose could help herself and looked Jack over for a moment.

"And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me! And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are RUNNING! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say…"

"I knew we should've turned left!" Mickey shouted, finishing off the story for Jack.

"That's my line!" Jack protested as they all fell about laughing.

"I don't believe you, I don't believe a word you say ever_, _that is so brilliant!" Rose said, trying to control her laughter.

A woman approached the table, holding a box covered in blue wrapping paper. "Excuse me, is there a Miss Kari Conner here?" She asked politely.

A smile formed on Kari's face. "That's me, hello." The woman looked at her, and then at a piece of paper she was holding in her other hand before passing the box to Kari. "Thank you." She had a good idea as to who it was from, there was only one person who would know she was in there and send her something.

"Who's sending you packages?" The Doctor asked, frowning away. "Who even knows you're here?"

Kari couldn't help but laugh a little. "Spoilers." She said, as she undone the silver ribbon. Everyone at the table was watching her, all of them seemed interested in what she had been given, and why.

There was a glint in her eyes as she carefully undone the wrapping, leaving a plain white box in front of her. She had to refrain from looking at Jack as she opened the box, that would just ruin the moment for her.

"Oh, my God." She cried, looking at the objects in the box. "I am so going to kill him later."

"Who are you going to kill?" The Doctor asked, trying to see inside the box.

"Nothing to do with you." She told him, as she pulled out a brand new mobile phone. She had been coping without one so far, she had her laptop and that was all she had needed. But someone felt it was time she had a phone as well. "Top of the range. Well, he always did have expensive taste." She said as she turned it over in her hands.

Kari saw darkness in the Doctor's eyes now. "No way, he did not get me that as well." She cried, pulling out a bracelet, covered with blue stones. She reached her hand down her top and pulled out the blue stone hanging on the end of a silver chain. "Now all I'm missing is the earrings." She joked.

"Is it your birthday or something?" Mickey asked her.

Kari just smiled. "In a way. This is now my third birthday this year. I think. Or has it been more than a year now? Either way yes, it is now my random birthday."

"Well, happy birthday, Princess." Jack said, kissing her on the cheek. "Want me to help you with that?" He asked her, pointing to the bracelet. She just nodded at him and let him attach it around her wrist. "Looks kind of expensive."

"Knowing him, it probably is." Kari told him as she fiddled around with it on her wrist. "Anyway, enough about that. I think we should be more interested in who the new mayor of Cardiff is. And the power station she's building." She said, nodding to the paper a man was reading on another table.

The Doctor quickly got up and snatched it away, looking at it for himself. "And I was having such a nice day." The Doctor said, looking at the woman on the front page, trying to hide from the camera.

"Looks like we have an appointment with the mayor. Better get a move on." Kari said, slipping the rest of the contents of the box into her bag. No one even noticed, they were too busy asking questions about the new mayor.

Kari stuck close to Jack as they made their way to the city hall. The Doctor had explained to Jack exactly who she was, and what happened with Margaret the Slitheen when they first met her.

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit." Jack ran through once they arrived in the foyer of the city hall.

"Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic 57-56 strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you and Kari go face-to-face, that'll designate Exit 1, I'll cover Exit 2, Rose, you're Exit 3, Mickey Smith, you take Exit 4. Have you got that?"

Kari was about to say something but the Doctor got there first. "Excuse me. Who's in charge?" He asked.

"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir." Kari knew that Jack used to be in charge and taking the lead, he wasn't used to being knocked down.

"Right. Here's the plan." The Doctor said, a smile on his face. "Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?"

"Yeah, I have question. Why the hell am I stuck with you?" Kari asked, glaring at the Doctor.

"Because I want to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't run off."

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Talk about trust." She mumbled, feeling completely fed up now. It was clear that he currently didn't trust her, she felt like he was treating her like a little kid.

"Did you say something?" The Doctor asked her, pretending not to have heard.

"Yeah, I did actually. You don't trust me, do you?" She asked him bluntly, staring him down.

"Not right now, no. I don't trust you not to run off on your own." He told her, causing Kari to let out a groan.

"Present arms." Jack called, getting the group back to the situation at hand. Everyone pulled out their mobile phones, including Kari.

She looked down and noticed that she already had a message, asking her if she liked the gifts. She had to refrain from grinning madly, as the Doctor took hold of her arm and dragged her along the corridors with him.

"Do you have to drag me around like a child?" She spat at him, trying to pull herself away from him.

"Until you stop acting like one, yes."

Kari laughed a little. "If anyone's acting like a child it's you. You're clearly not happy that you aren't the only person in my life. So you feel the need to keep me by your side so that I don't have the chance to even talk to anyone else."

The Doctor just let out a sigh. "Why do you always insist on turning everything into an argument or a fight?"

"Because sometimes it's the only way to get through to you. Plus it makes me feel better." She told him as they turned the corner and started walking along another corridor.

"Even when something isn't my fault you take it out on me." The Doctor grumbled, loosening his grip just a little.

"Yeah? Well, you're easy to insult and annoy." Kari told him. "It's easier to just blame everything on you."

"And why is that?" He asked her curiously.

"Because you're the only constant thing in my life. Everything else is always changing. It just makes it easier to take everything out on you, since you're the one who is always there." Kari told him, without really thinking about it first. "And because you're an idiot." She quickly added. She was still angry with him, she wasn't going to let him get away with everything.

"Yeah, you keep reminding me of that. Anything else you want to call me?" He asked her, not actually expecting her to answer.

"Well, you're arrogant, self obsessed, pig headed, condescending…" Kari listed off.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, dumbo." She replied, trying not to smile.

"Hello, we've come to see the Lord Mayor." The Doctor said cheerfully to the man sitting behind the desk.

"Have you got an appointment?"

"No, just old friends passing by. Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face." He was beaming away. Kari was still trying not to smile, she knew what was coming, and she was looking forward to the running.

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea." The man replied, a little nervous.

"Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her." Kari said, making sure to put emphasis when she said 'Doctor'."

"Doctor who?" The man asked. Kari couldn't help but think of Ianto when the man spoke. It was the Welsh accent that done it for her.

"Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor." Kari told him, noticing the Doctor grinning beside her.

"Hang on a tick." He said, getting up from his desk and heading into the room where Margaret, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, was taking her tea.

They head a cup smashing when it hit the floor come from inside the room, before the man reappeared, cautiously leaving the room. "The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat, but… er… she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?" The man said.

"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" Kari and the Doctor said at the same time, she finally let a smile creep onto her face.

"Yes, she is." He replied, before the Doctor pushed past him, dragging Kari into the room with him.

* * *

**A/N: And so Kari has confronted the Doctor she was so desperate to get away from. I hope you all enjoyed it. There's more to come in the second part. I really enjoyed writing this episode, mainly because I knew Kari was going to give the Doctor hell and because she got to see Jack again. **

**Thank you for all the reviews, feel free to leave one and let me know what you thought of this chapter. And thank you to all the people who have followed/favourited, you guys are totally awesome. **

**Pippa.**


	28. Boom Town Pt2

**A/N: I know it's been a good week now since I last updated. I finish my work in the current school in less than 2 weeks now. So things will be a little more stable then. Sorry you guys have had such a wait. **

* * *

"Slitheen heading north." The Doctor called down the phone to everyone else as they watched Margaret climb down some scaffolding from the balcony. Kari was all ready to chase after her, she had been looking forward to a bit of running for once.

"Leave the Mayor alone!" The man cried, grabbing hold of the Doctor and trying to tackle him to the ground.

"Oi, get off him. I'm the only one allowed to be violent to him." Kari shouted, dragging the man off him and shoving him back into the room. "Come on." She grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him over to the scaffolding before jumping down it all.

"Margaret!" The Doctor sang as they reached the ground and chased after her.

"Who's on exit four?" Jack shouted, as Margaret got further and further away from them.

"That was Mickey." Rose called, catching up to him and stopping beside him before the Doctor and Kari reached them.

"Here I am!" He called, blundering out of a fire exit.

"Mickey the idiot." The Doctor called him, clearly not happy that the Slitheen was getting away.

"Oh, be fair. She's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?" Rose said confidently. The moment she said that, Margaret disappeared.

"She's got a teleport. That's cheating." Jack cried. "Now we're never going to get her."

"Oh, Kari's very good at teleports." Rose said, looking at her expectantly.

"Am I? Since when?" Kari asked in bewilderment. The Doctor just shook his head and pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on.

Margaret reappeared, but now she was heading straight towards them. She turned around, running again, before disappearing. The Doctor just grinned as he turned his screwdriver on again, making Margaret reappear, even closer to them before. It happened one more time before the Slitheen in a skin suit was standing right in front of them.

"I could do this all day." The Doctor said, beaming away.

"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?" Margaret asked, panting and trying to catch her breath.

"Well, for start you tried to kill us and destroy this entire planet. I think that warrants it." Kari told her casually.

"Apart from that." Margaret said, as if what she had done was nothing to be sorry for.

"I think you have some explaining to do, Margaret the Slitheen." Kari said. "Let's start by taking a look at that lovely power station you're building shall we?"

It was long till they were in the city hall, looking at the plans for the new nuclear power station in Cardiff.

"So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped." The Doctor rambled. "Your family get killed but you teleport out just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"

Margaret just shrugged. "A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways." She said, making Kari snort a little.

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift." The Doctor pointed out, trying to ignore Kari's little snort. He knew that she knew exactly what was going on, so he was going to just let her get on with it.

"What rift would that be?" The Slitheen was doing well to act like she knew nothing about what she was doing.

"A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go schwwwupboom." Jack told her, making some dramatic gestures with his arms.

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity." Kari said, leaning on the desk.

Rose just looked at her in shock. "Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?" She asked.

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The south Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice. Oh, I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native." Margaret said, disgusted with herself.

"But why would she do that?" Mickey asked. "A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself."

"She's got a name, you know." Margaret hissed.

"She's not even a she, she's a thing." Kari couldn't help but smile at Mickey's retort.

"If anything, she's clever. Well, almost." Kari said, pulling something from the table, pretty much destroying the scale model of the power station.

"Fantastic." The Doctor cried, looking at Kari with pride.

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" Jack asked, his eyes wide and bright with excitement.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." The Doctor said, as Kari passed it over to Jack.

"Oh, genius." Jack said as he checked the metal plate over. "You didn't build this."

"I have my hobbies. A little tinkering." Margaret said, a small smile on her face as she watched the group.

"Nah, he means you did not build that. It's way beyond you. I know you stole this." Kari told her, her arms folded across her chest.

"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked.

"It's transport. The reactor blows, the rift opens, phenomenal cosmic disaster, but that thing shrouds you in a force field. You have this energy bubble, so you're safe. Then you feed it the coordinates, stand in to and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system." Jack told her, stepping on it and demonstrating as he explained.

"It's a surfboard." Mickey cried, finally working it out.

"Oh yeah, a pan dimensional surfboard." Kari was grinning away.

"And it would have worked." Margaret said, a sneer on her face. "I'd have surfed away from this dead end dump and back to civilisation."

"You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?" Mickey asked her in horror.

"Like stepping on an ant hill."

By this point, the Doctor wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. He was looking at the banner in the wall, looking at the words. "How'd you think of the name?" He asked, not taking his eyes off it.

"What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh."

"I know, but how did you think of it?" The Doctor asked her, frowning at Kari, watching her face for anything that would give him a clue.

"I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It just sounded good. Does it matter?" Margaret asked.

"Blaidd Drwg." He mumbled, as Kari came and stood next to him.

Rose just looked at the pair. She could tell from the way Kari was acting that she knew something more. "What's it mean?"

"Bad Wolf." The pair said at the same time.

"But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times." Rose was more than just a little shocked, and scared.

"Everywhere we go. Two words following us. Bad Wolf." The Doctor told her. He was concerned, and he wanted to ask Kari so many questions, but he knew he couldn't.

"How can they be following us?"

"Nah, just a coincidence." The Doctor said, hearing the panic in Rose's voice and noticing how Kari had suddenly became a little nervous. "Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind. Things to do. Margaret, we're going to take you home."

"Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?" Jack asked in disbelief at the Doctor's suggestion.

"I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa… Wait a minute. Raxacor…" Rose said, looking at Kari for help.

"Raxa, corioco, falla, patorious." Kari sung.

"Raxacorico…"

"fallapatorious." Kari finished, smiling at her friend.

"Raxacoricofallapatorious. That's it. I did it!" Rose cried, hugging Kari as the pair jumped around the room a little.

Margaret was looking at them in disgust. "They have the death penalty. The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statues of the government, the moment I return, I am to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death."

"Not my problem." The Doctor told her, taking hold of Kari's hand and pulling her to one side. "You seem calm, know what's going on?" He asked her once they were out of earshot.

"Yup. Anything else?" She asked, leaning against the wall a little.

"Are you going to try to run at the first chance you get?" The Doctor had his arms folded across his chest as he spoke to her.

"Don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how much of an idiot you are. I've actually got a friend in Cardiff who I wouldn't mind going and visiting. Think you can trust me enough to let me go?" She asked him, hoping that he would say yes and let her go.

"Depends. Are you going to come back?" Kari cold have sworn she heard worry in his voice. He was worried that she wouldn't come back.

"Wouldn't want to miss a trip to Raxacoricofallapatorious now, would I?"

The Doctor quickly brightened up and smiled at her. "Come on then."

The group ended up taking Margaret back to the TARDIS. Everyone seemed a little nervous, everyone apart from Kari.

"This ship is impossible. It's superb. How do you get the outside around the inside?" Margaret asked as she looked around the inside of the blue box.

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah." The Doctor scoffed as he worked on something on the console.

"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods."

"Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters." He told her. "Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?" He asked, sitting on the metal grating, surrounded by wires.

"Oh, I don't know. Some airlock sale?" Margaret told him.

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power." Jack glared at the woman, while Kari leaned against the railings with her brand new phone in her hand.

"But we can use it for fuel?" The Doctor asked him, not noticing what Kari was doing.

"It's not compatible. But it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning." Kari called, not looking up from her phone.

The Doctor finally looked at her. He frowned when he saw her gazing at her new phone. "Then we're stuck here overnight."

"I'm in no hurry." Margaret told them. Well, of course she wouldn't be. She was going home to be executed.

"We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box." Rose said, a little bit too excited.

"You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you." Margaret replied, looking around at everyone.

"Well, you deserve it." Mickey spat at her.

"You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly?" She asked. "Long night ahead. Let's see who can look me in the eye."

Margaret looked at all of them in turn, and none of them could hold her gaze. But when it came to Kari, it was slightly different. "Not going to work on me I'm afraid. I know I've got worse times to come. You don't scare me, Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen."

The Slitheen just kept staring at her. "Worse than sending someone to their death?"

Kari didn't look away, she didn't even blink. "Yes." That was when Margaret finally looked away from her.

After a while, Rose and Mickey left. Kari knew what was going to happen, and she was just hoping that the Doctor would let her stay in the TARDIS with Jack.

"So, what's going on?" Jack asked Kari, as she bit her lip and stared at the screen of her phone some more.

"Nothing, just…" She fell silent.

"I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go with her, your Kari. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars together, am I right? But not this time. At last you have consequences. How does it feel?" Margaret asked him.

"I didn't butcher them." He spat at her, not meeting her gaze.

"Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack warned him from where he was working.

"I didn't." He told Jack. "What about you? You have an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

"It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up in a skip on the Isle of Dogs." The Doctor just started laughing, and Kari couldn't help a little giggle escape her lips. "It's wasn't funny."

"Sorry." He said, stopping his laughing and turning to look at her. "It is a bit funny." The Doctor laughed again, Jack joining in and eventually so did Margaret.

"Do I get a last request?" She asked, actually rather serious.

"Depends on what it is."

"I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just round the Bay. It became quite a favourite of mine." She told him.

"Is that what you want, a last meal?" The Doctor asked her, glancing at Kari and seeing she was still gazing at her phone.

"Don't I have rights?"

"Oh, like she's not going to try and escape." Jack scoffed.

"Except I can never escape the Doctor." Margaret snapped. "So what's the danger? I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"

"Strong enough."

"I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them." Kari knew what she was doing, just like she knew how the evening would end. But she was ready for it, she had a plan of her own.

"You won't change my mind."

"Prove it."

The Doctor thought about it for a moment and looked at Kari. She finally looked at him and just shrugged her shoulders. "There are people out there. If you slip away for just one second, they'll be in danger."

"I think Jack can help you out there." Kari called to him.

"She right, I've got these." He pulled two silver bracelets out of his pocket. "You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away, she gets zapped by ten thousand volts."

"Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat?" The Doctor asked her.

There was a smile on the woman's face now. "Dinner in bondage. Works for me."

"Kari, you coming?" He asked her, but already knowing that she probably wouldn't.

"Nope. Like I said, there is a friend I want to go and see. I promise to come back, I just… have to see them." She told him, letting out a sigh.

"Okay. See you in a bit then." He put the bracelet on Margaret, and then the other on himself before walking out of the TARDIS with her.

She watched Jack working, hooking the extrapolator up to the console. "Seems like the Doctor has warmed up to you a bit."

He looked up at her. "Yeah, well after you went missing, we kinda had a talk. He decided that if you saved me, there had to have been a good reason for it."

"Yup. Because you're important, Jack. And not just to me." She told him.

He couldn't help but smile at her. Since the day he had met her, she had made him feel like he was actually worth something, she gave him so much more to live for. "So, met me in the future yet?" He asked her, as he got back to work.

"Oh yes. I'm actually going to be having words with you about something at a later date. You always manage to get me into trouble, Harkness."

Jack just laughed at her, he could definitely believe that. He stopped when her phone actually started ringing.

Kari grinned as she looked at the caller ID. "Hi, this is Kari. I'm currently busy either saving the universe, or flirting with a very handsome ex-time agent. Please leave a message after the beep." She said, before making the beeping sound.

"_Hooking up the extrapolator?"_ A voice called to her.

"How ever did you guess?" Kari asked him, a smile on her face.

"_Now, I do believe the Doctor gave you permission to go and visit this friend of yours. So what the hell are you still doing in the TARDIS, Princess?" _

"I told you. I'm flirting with a very handsome ex-time agent." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jack smirking at her. "He is so young, and very good looking."

"_Hey, are you calling me old?"_

Kari couldn't help but laugh at him. "No, of course I'm not. You've just… matured. Like a fine wine. Or some mouldy cheese."

"_Oh, you are in so much trouble now, Princess. Now, hurry up."_

"Yes, sir." She called down the phone, before hanging up. "Right, I'm off out for a bit. The Doctor did say I was allowed to go out, just as long as I come back."

"Is he as good looking as me?" Jack asked her. "This friend of yours?"

"No one can be as good looking as you, Captain Harkness. Not ever." She told him, before heading out of the door.

She ran across the plaza and towards the tourist information office. She stopped when she saw a man standing outside, his long coat billowing in the breeze.

"Oi, Harkness!" She shouted, getting his attention. He turned around and grinned at her and she wasted no time in running at full speed and throwing her arms around him.

"Happy birthday, Princess." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks, Jack. You really shouldn't have got me that stuff, but thank you so much." She told him, still holding onto him.

"Hey, you're my princess, I'm allowed to spoil you rotten." That just made both of them laugh.

"So, you're already working for Torchwood then?" She asked him, as they strolled around the Bay a little.

"Yeah, but I don't believe in the same thing's that they do over at Torchwood One. I run the place differently here." He told her.

"Good for you, Jack. I don't believe in what that lot stand for either. Oh, they are going to be in so much trouble one day." She warned him.

"Spoilers?"

She just grinned at him. "Spoilers. So how's immortal life been?"

"A pain, but thanks for asking." He said, nudging her a little. "Will I ever find the Doctor again?"

"Oh, Jack. Of course you will. You may have to keep waiting, but you've been doing that for long enough already. Just don't worry about it. Do what you do best, defend the Earth, and monitor the rift. And stay handsome." She told him.

"At least you kept your promise. You always drop in and check up on me." He told her, pulling her a little closer to him as the wind blew harshly.

"Can't get rid of me, Jack. This princess is for life. And in your case, that's a very long one." She teased.

There was a smirk on Jack's face now. "So, when are you going to leave the Doctor and stay with me forever?" He asked.

Kari let out a groan. "Oh, don't start that. I told him, very recently, about that bloody kiss. It didn't just shock him, I thought he was going to throw me into a black hole."

He just reached out a pulled up her left hand. "Well, I see you're not a married woman, or Time Lady, surely you can kiss whoever you want?"

She let out a sigh as she pulled her hand away and reached into her bag. Her hand was tightly grasping the small blue box as she pulled it back out again. "Yeah, because I'm not wearing this?" She said, passing the box to him.

Jack opened the box and let out a whistle. "Wow, that's pretty impressive."

"In the future, your future, you're the person I turn to, Jack. Because you are the person I trust the most to be completely honest with me. The Doctor lied to me, he kept secrets from me. Rule one, the Doctor lies. How can I trust him?" She wondered, looking out across the water.

"Remember that night we met?" Jack asked her.

"How could I forget, you were pointing a bloody gun at me." She moaned.

"I didn't trust you at first, did I?" Kari shook her head. "But you knew my future. You knew all about who I was and what I was doing. I took a chance and trusted you. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Is there a point to all this, Jack?"

"Yes. You know his future, and his past. You know everything there is to know about him. Take a chance, trust him." He said, handing the box back to her.

"I hate it when you're right, Harkness." She mumbled, dropping the box back into her bag. "So, how long have we got before all hell lets loose?"

"Not that long. I've already warned the team not to worry about it. We don't need them getting involved do we?" Jack told her.

"Guess it's not enough time to come and meet the current team then?" She asked him. She didn't know who was going to be working there at the time. She couldn't quite remember what year it was that the ones she knew started working there.

"Maybe another time." He told her, kissing the top of her head again as he held her tightly.

Kari couldn't help but smile at how Jack was treating her. He just seemed a little bit protective of her, even if it was only from the rotten weather they were having. "I can't believe I punched the Doctor." She said suddenly.

Jack just burst out laughing. "Oh I can still remember his face. Did it make you feel any better?"

She just shrugged a little. "Not really. Not as much as when I hit Van Statten. Who, by the way, I am pretty sure was using retcon. Or at least his own version of it."

"Henry Van Statten?" Jack asked. "The guy who thinks he owns the internet?"

"Yup. That's the one. But don't worry about him, I'll sort him out in a few years for you." Kari told him, trying not to think about what happened to her.

"We've been watching him for a while. He's a big collector of alien artefacts."

"Oh, he collects a bit more than just that, Jack. Trust me, I know." Her voice came out in pretty much a whisper now.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." She said, trying to wave it off. She knew as soon as she had said it that he was probably going to press her about it.

"Kari, what happened?" There was concern in his voice now.

She let out a sigh and turned to face him. "You can never tell anyone. Especially the Doctor." Jack nodded at her. "He likes his live specimens better. He likes to dissect them and torture them to make them talk." She told him calmly, even though her eyes were filling from the memory of what happened.

"Oh, Princess." He just pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her tighter. "When did this happen? And how long were you there for?"

"It wasn't that long ago, a few days maybe. I was stuck there for a few months before the Doctor finally decided to show up." She told him.

Before Jack could say anything else, the ground started to shake, as there was a loud rumbling noise. "I think that's our cue." Jack said, grabbing Kari's hand and running with her back to where the TARDIS was parked.

They turned the corner just in time to see the Doctor and Margaret charge into the blue box. "I have to go now, Princess. Come visit me anytime, okay?"

Kari smiled at him. "Oh don't worry, I will. Look after yourself." She said, hugging him tightly.

"Kari!" She heard Rose call to her.

"You better disappear, Harkness, can't have Rose finding you out here with me." He kissed the top of her head before making a mad dash back into the hub. "Come on, Rose. Time to go and save the entire planet, again." She said to her friend, grabbing her hand and heading for the TARDIS.

"What is it? What's happening?" Rose asked as she entered the blue box.

"Oh, just little me." Margaret said smugly, tearing off the arm of the suit and revealing her true arm. Her claws reached out to grasp Rose but Kari was quick to throw her out of the way. She ended up stuck in the green monsters grasp instead.

"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise." The Slitheen hissed.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes. "I might've known."

"I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it." She said, before looking at the younger Jack. "You, fly boy, put the extrapolator at my feet." Her grip on Kari's neck tightened before the Doctor nodded for Jack to do it. "Thank you, just as I planned."

"I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station?" Rose asked, a little confused.

"Failing that, if I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor."

"Oi." Kari shouted. "Only I'm allowed to insult the Doctor. And anyway your plan sucks. Plan A and plan B, they both suck. You've locked onto the power source, you've opened the rift. But there is something you overlooked." Kari said, smugly.

"Oh really?" Margaret snorted. "And what might that be?"

Part of the console suddenly opened, with a bright light emanating from it. "Well, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart." Kari informed her.

"So sue me."

"It's not just any old power source." Kari said, looking over at the Doctor. "It's the TARDIS."

"Our TARDIS." The Doctor said. "The best ship in the universe."

"It'll make wonderful scrap." Margaret told them, not understanding what was going to happen next.

"What's that light?" Rose asked, trying her best not to look over in that direction.

"The heart of the TARDIS. This ship's alive. You've opened its soul." The Doctor called to the Slitheen, who was still holding onto Kari.

"It's so bright…"

"Look at it Margaret." The Doctor told her.

"…Beautiful…"

"Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light." He kept encouraging her, hoping that she would let Kari go. He was right, the woman's grip loosened and Kari managed to slip out from the hand and casually strolled over to Jack, who instantly pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you." Margaret said to them, before the light took her over and she disappeared, leaving behind nothing but an empty skin suit.

"Don't look. Stay there. Close your eyes." The Doctor shouted at everyone as he ran around the console and closed the open panel. "Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut down. Rose, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right." He said, stopping only to grab hold of Kari and hug her.

"Oi, you're crushing me." She mumbled, whacking him on the arms.

He quickly let her go before turning to face the others. "Nicely done. Thank you, all."

"What happened to Margaret?" Rose asked.

Kari just wandered over to the skin suit and bent down, before pulling something that looked like an egg with tentacles out. She held onto it while the others carried on talking.

"Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence." Jack said.

"Nope." Kari called, still looking at the egg in her hands.

"Then, where'd she go?" Rose wondered.

"She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, and even I don't know how strong that is. And this ship's telepathic, like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts." The Doctor told her.

"Yup, and she can turn you into an egg so that you can start your life all over again." Kari told them, finally getting up off the floor with the egg.

"She's an egg?" Rose and Jack asked.

"Well, obviously. All we have to do is take her back, leave her with a decent family and hope that she makes better choices for her life this time." Kari told them, placing the egg down gently on the console.

"Oh, my God. Mickey." Rose cried, before rushing out of the TARDIS.

"Told you I'd come back, didn't I, Doctor? You going to start trusting me yet?" Kari asked him, still a little unhappy with him.

"I thought she was going to kill you." The Doctor told her seriously.

"Yes, and I knew she wouldn't. I knew what the TARDIS was going to do. I knew it would all work out fine in the end. Well, except for Rose. She won't find Mickey." She told him sadly. Kari had always thought those two made a great couple.

It didn't take long for a rather upset looking Rose to return to the TARDIS. "We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go, if that's all right." The Doctor asked her, glancing at Kari.

"Yeah, fine."

"How's Mickey?" He asked her as Kari walked over to her friend.

"He's okay. He's gone."

"Do you want to go and find him? We'll wait." He told her.

"No need. He deserves better." Rose mumbled. Kari just wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a hug.

"Off we go then. Always moving on." The Doctor said, seeing that Kari was dealing with an upset Rose.

"Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorious. Now you don't often get to say that often." Jack smirked, helping the Doctor around the console.

The Doctor was smiling a little. "We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again. A second change."

"That'd be nice." Rose whispered.

"You okay, Rose?" She gave Kari a half hearted smile and a nod. Kari knew her friend was far from okay, but she knew there was nothing she could do to make her feel any better.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I really couldn't stop myself from physically throwing Jack in there. Sure he got her the presents, but she had to go and see him, right? **

**I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has stuck by me these past few weeks. I know my updates have been getting worse, it's just finding the time to write and upload when I'm out the door by 7am and then not home till 6pm. But less than 2 weeks left till I have no reason to get out of bed for a few weeks. **

**During that time I promise to get my backside in gear and update more regularly. But I still want to say thanks to you all in the mean time. **

**Oh, and I absolutely love your reviews. You guys really are just totally awesome and amazing. Thank you all so much.**

**Pippa. **


	29. Vampires of Venice Pt1

**A/N: Guys, I am so sorry this has taken so long. Things haven't been the best for me. I have the next chapter ready to post after this, so it shouldn't be a long wait. Again, I'm so sorry.**

* * *

Kari was hanging around the console, Jack and Rose had already gone to bed, and she had no idea where the Doctor was. She pulled her new phone out of her pocket, along with her sonic screwdriver. She aimed it at the phone, turned it on and then let a smile creep across her face.

"Universal roaming?" The Doctor called as he entered the room.

She just nodded at him. "Yup." She told him, doing her utmost best to avoid looking at him.

"So, are you going to tell me who gave you all those gifts then?" He asked her, plonking himself down on the chair by the console.

"Nope."

He just frowned at her. "Is there a reason for that?"

"Yup."

"Spoilers?"

"Yup."

"Kari, you're going to have to talk to me properly at some point. You can't keep giving me one word answers." He told her, just wanting her to talk to him properly.

"Really?" She said, not caring about how worried he seemed to be.

"Kari, please." He pleaded, letting out a sigh.

"What do you want me to say, Doctor?" She asked him, putting her phone in her pocket again and finally looking at him. "That I didn't mean any of those things that I said? That I was completely in the wrong? Because that is never going to happen."

"I know. You're right." The Doctor said, taking her by surprise. "Everything you said, it was all right."

"Blimey, that's a first. You're actually admitting to something, agreeing with me even. This is a momentous occasion, really must be my birthday." Kari said, still looking at him in shock.

"I'm fed up with us fighting all the time. We used to be fine, we used to be happy. But now, everything just turns into an argument, both of us lose our tempers." The Doctor told her.

"Well, maybe if people stopped keeping secrets from me, and people listened to me, I wouldn't get so annoyed and fed up all the time." She told him, still leaning on the console.

"Look, I know this is still early for you, and you don't understand everything yet, but…"

"Oh, shut up, Doctor. It really isn't that early anymore. I know, okay? You told me, and I ran away from you. I needed time to sort my head out, and I haven't had the chance to do it." Kari snapped at him. "I just… I just want some time by myself, to think things over. Is that really asking for too much?"

"Well then, why don't you go and take a nice hot bath." The Doctor suggested, getting up from where he was sitting and walking over to her. "Take as long as you want. Soak in the bath until you look like a prune." He joked, putting an arm around her. For the first time since she had gotten back to him, she didn't try to get away.

"Yeah, and knowing my luck I'm going to get a headache as soon as I'm in the bath." She mumbled as he led her down the corridor and towards her room.

"So, the moment you get a headache, you just shout for me and I'll come running, okay?" He told her as they stopped outside of her door.

Kari let out a sigh. "Yeah, okay. See you in a few hours, Doctor." She said, before stepping into her room.

She dragged herself into the bathroom, only to find that the bath was already filled and waiting for her. "Thanks, sexy." She whispered, as she got herself undressed and sunk down in the tub.

Kari wasn't sure how long she had been in the bath for, but her skin had wrinkled everywhere. She pulled herself out and wrapped the fluffy blue towel around her and walked into her bedroom. The TARDIS had been kind enough to set some clothes out for her, a pair of black jeans, an electric blue shirt and a pair of converse trainers.

Once she was dressed she sat on the edge of her bed and pulled the ring box out again. She still had no idea of what she should do. For some reason, a reason that she really couldn't explain, she really wanted to talk to the Doctor, the one she was with now.

Kari made her way out of her room, her phone and the ring sitting in the pockets of her jeans. She hadn't even made it halfway when her head started pounding and she stumbled into the wall. "Doctor!" She shouted, pushing herself along the wall, trying to make it to the console room before she disappeared. "Doctor!" This time she didn't just shout, she screamed.

"Kari? What is it, what's wrong?" The Doctor called, running down the corridor towards her.

"What do you think?" She mumbled, lifting one of her hands up and looking at the golden glow around it.

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Next time you're here, we talk. Deal? No arguments, not fights. Deal?" He asked her.

She could see that his eyes were pleading for her to say yes, so she nodded at him. "I'll see you later. Say bye to Rose and Jack for me." She told him, before being completely taken over and the pain in her head reaching an unbearable level.

Once she was certain she had arrived somewhere else, she took deep breaths, waiting for the pain to subside. As she waited, she heard people talking outside. She could hear the familiar hum of the blue box she was currently inside.

"_Oh right, yeah. No, still not getting it." _She smiled a little when she heard her bowtie wearing Doctor.

"_Doctor, in one word. In one very simple word even you can understand…"_ Kari's head shot up, she knew what was going to happen next, and she was damned if she was going to let it happen.

"_No!"_ The Doctor cried. "_I'm with Kari, remember her? And you're getting married in the morning!"_ He protested.

"_Well, the morning's a long time away. And Kari isn't here. What are we going to do about that?" _Amy said.

Kari couldn't take it anymore. She pulled the TARDIS doors open, just as Amy went to pin the Doctor against it. "Amelia Jessica Pond, you even think of touching him again and you will seriously regret it." Kari warned her. For some reason she was rather angry, and she could feel her eyes burning.

Amy backed away and around her bed, while the Doctor just looked at Kari with wide eyes. "Kari… when did you…" She didn't give him a chance to say anything else, as she pushed him against the doorframe and pressed her lips against his.

The Doctor didn't even hesitate to respond. He just wrapped his arms around her and let himself get lost in the moment. It wasn't until Amy decided to clear her throat that they finally broke apart. The Doctor was blushing furiously while Kari just had a huge grin on her face.

"Received and understood, Pond?" Kari said, looking at Amy. The red head just nodded at her. "Good. Glad we've sorted that out. Now, onto the next matter."

Before Kari had the chance to say anything else, the Doctor grabbed hold of her left hand and looked down at it. "Kari…"

She let out a sigh and pulled the blue box from her pocket and passed it to the Doctor. "Yeah, you gave it to me, and I kind of ran. Sorry." She mumbled.

Kari couldn't help but notice the small smile on the Doctor's face. "So why aren't you wearing it?" He asked her.

"Why isn't Amelia wearing hers?" The Doctor didn't answer her, he just pulled the ring out of the box and gently slipped the ring on her finger. "I take it I'm never allowed to take it off now?"

He shook his head at her. "Nope. Never." He told her, before reaching down and kissing her.

Amy was just sitting on her bed, not really knowing what to do anymore. She had just tried to kiss the Doctor, when she knew that he was with Kari. Amy hadn't anticipated that Kari would show up, or be as angry as she was.

The woman stayed quiet and eventually the pair broke apart again. Both of them were a little breathless, and this time Kari did have a pink tint on her cheeks. "I could get used to this." She muttered to the Doctor as he held onto her hand tightly. "But you need to look at the clock, Doctor."

He frowned at her before looking at the digital clock on the table beside Amy's bed. "She's getting married in the morning, Doctor. Look at the date." Kari whispered to him.

"Amy Pond. Mad, impossible, Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the universe is that I get you sorted out right now." The Doctor said, looking at her.

"And not in the way you think, Amelia." Kari added. "Come on." She reached out and grabbed her hand, before pulling her into the TARDIS along with the Doctor.

Straight away she started running around the console with the Doctor. _"You know what we need to do now?"_ Kari called to the Doctor.

"_Pick up the soon to be Mr Pond?"_

She smiled at him. _"Oh yes. Time to go and make his stag do something he will never forget. I'm seeing a cake, meant for a stripper."_

He looked over and frowned at her. _"It had better not be you in that cake." _He warned her.

"_Oh no, way better. I'm thinking one hot time lord."_ Kari told him, making him blush a little.

"Right, you two wait here. I'll be right back with Mr Pond." The Doctor called before charging out of the TARDIS.

Kari and Amy hung around in silence. Kari was just wandering around the console, twisting the ring around on her finger a little. It felt weird, it being there, but she couldn't get that stupid grin off her face.

"Kari… I'm sorry." Amy called to her meekly.

"I know." Kari called, not actually bothering to look at her. She was still annoyed with her, because she had known who the Doctor was with. And yet she tried to kiss him anyway.

"No, really I am, Kari. I'm so sorry for trying to kiss the Doctor." She pressed, going and standing beside Kari.

"Just don't do it again, Amy. You're marrying Rory, I don't think he would be too happy if he found out his fiancé was trying to snog a bow tie wearing alien the night before her wedding." Kari said, putting in a new set of coordinates.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Kari. I hope you can forgive me." Kari knew that she truly was sorry.

"Course I can. If I can forgive the Doctor for all the stupid, idiotic things he's done, I'm sure I can forgive you." Kari told her, just as the Doctor ran back into the TARDIS, looking a little flustered. "Wrong cake, dear?"

He just frowned at her. "You could have warned me. I thought they were going to toss me in front of a bus." He moaned.

"Never mind, I'm completely sure the next one will be the right one. Almost." She said, pulling the lever and sending them off to the right place from Rory's stag.

It didn't take long for a bewildered Rory to enter the TARDIS behind the Doctor. He grabbed hold of Kari's hand and pulled her under the main platform as he plonked himself in the swing hanging there. "You okay?" He whispered to her as he pulled some goggles on.

"I'm okay. What about you?" She asked him, hanging onto the side of the swing.

The Doctor just smiled at her. "A lot better now." He told her, lightly touching her hand with the ring on it.

"You know, I'm still a little confused here." She admitted to him.

"Really? Why? What's confusing you?" The Doctor seemed a little shock at her admission.

"Well, some guy poured his heart out, told me he loved me and gave me a ring. I made him leave me alone. And now I'm wearing the bloody ring."

The Doctor just frowned at her. "Okay, I don't get it?"

She let out a sigh. "Amy has an engagement ring. What exactly is this?" She asked, holding her hand up and pointing to the ring. Kari had to be honest, she had never expected him to just put it straight in her. She was glad that she hadn't shown it to any of the other Doctors.

"It looks like a ring from where I'm sitting." The Doctor said, causing Kari to roll her eyes. "What do you want it to be, Kari?"

She let out a groan of frustration. "Why is it, you can never give me a straight answer?" Kari asked him.

He just grinned at her before, picking up the blowtorch. "You might want to back away a little." He warned her, before turning it on.

She took the hint and headed back up the stairs and to where Amy was wandering around the console biting her nails.

"Oh, the life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans." There was a spark and what sounded like a small explosion from where he was working. "It's meant to do that." He told them, causing Kari to giggle a little, she knew it wasn't. "Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it will tear you apart. So, we're sending you somewhere, together."

"Whoa, what, like a date?" Amy asked, seemingly a little nervous at the prospect.

"Anywhere you want. Any time you want. One condition. It has to be amazing." He told them, coming back up to the console and kissing Kari as he passed her. For some reason, it just made her blush. "The Moulin Rouge in 1890. The first Olympic Games. Think if it as a wedding present, because frankly it's either this or tokens."

He went and stood over by Rory. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about? Let me explain."

"It's another dimension." Rory said, completely calm.

"It's basically another dimens…" The Doctor said, before realising Rory had actually said that himself. "What?"

"After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel universes." Rory told him. The look on the Doctor's face was priceless, and Kari just burst out laughing.

The Doctor just frowned at Rory. "I like the bit where someone says it's bigger on the inside. I always look forward to that." He moaned, before stepping over to Kari. "Hush, you." He said, before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. It shut her up immediately.

"It's bigger on the inside." She said, making him smile at her.

"So, this date. I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?" Amy asked her fiancé.

"How about somewhere romantic?" The Doctor suggested, before he started dashing around the console. He pulled the lever and everything started shaking, startling Rory a bit and making him grab on tightly.

"So, Amy and Rory get to go on a date, what are we going to do?" Kari asked him, standing next to him at the console as they flew through the time vortex.

"Well, we can go on a date. If you want." Kari didn't know if he was being serious or just teasing her, so she didn't bother to say anything else. Beside, she knew that Amy and Rory weren't exactly going to end up having a date.

They finally landed and the Doctor pretty much dragged Kari out of the blue box with him. "Venice." He cried. "Venezia. La Serenissima. Impossible city. Preposterous city. Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the middle of the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world." He explained as the couple came out behind him. "Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, constantly… just beautiful. Ah, you got to love Venice. So many people did."

Kari smiled at him. "Byron."

"Napoleon."

"Casanova." She grinned, watching just a hint of panic reach the Doctor's face.

"Oh, that reminds me." He quickly looked down at his watch. "1580. That's alright. Casanova doesn't get born for a hundred and forty five years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."

Rory just looked at him. "You owe Casanova a chicken?" He asked.

"Long story. We had a bet. Which you made me lose." He said, frowning at Kari.

"Well, not yet I haven't. But I look forward to it." She replied, trying not to giggle as they began walking through the city.

They were soon stopped by a man, putting his arm out and blocking the Doctor's way. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Papers, if you please. Proof of residence, current bill of medical inspection." The short, and rather well dressed official looking man asked.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his psychic paper. "There you go, fellow. All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find." There was a slight grin on his face.

"I am so sorry, Your Holiness." The man replied, looking a little embarrassed. "I didn't realise."

"No worries." The Doctor replied, casually blessing the man. "You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens. Visitors foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice. See where you bring me? The plague." Amy moaned, whacking the Doctor lightly on the arm.

"Don't worry, Viscountess. No, we're under quarantine here. No one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri." The man told the group.

"How interesting. I heard the plague died out years ago." Kari could see the deep look of thought on the Doctor's face.

"Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did she now?" The Doctor was still thinking, as the man walked off to go and pester someone else for their papers.

"Er, according to this, I am your eunuch." Rory called, looking at the psychic paper.

"Oh yeah. I'll explain later." Amy told him, seeing the Doctor and Kari rush off together.

"Hey, Doctor." Kari whispered, tugging at his hand a little. "I have to tell you something."

He stopped and turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"I know what's going to happen, and… it isn't all good." There was a sad look on her face. Kari knew what was going to happen, she knew who was going to die. There was going to be a lot of death, and she hated it.

"When you say not all good…" The Doctor had picked up on the tone of her voice, and he knew it was serious.

"We can't save everyone. We can save a city, but not everyone." She told him quietly.

The Doctor instantly wrapped his arms around her. He hated seeing her like that, and he knew just how much she hated knowing as much as she did. "Everything will be fine, Kari. I promise." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

The pair of them looked over and across the canal just as Amy and Rory joined them. There was a huge house on the other side, and a procession of women walked out, veils covering their faces. Kari let out a sigh as she saw a man running over to one of the girls, pulling the veil back and shouting for his daughter.

"What was that all about?" Amy called, turning around to look for the Doctor and Kari. Only neither of them was there. "I hate it when they do that." She moaned, looking at Rory.

Kari had grabbed hold of the Doctor's hand and dragged him towards an alley, where she knew they would run into the man they had seen looking for his daughter. "Who were those girls?" the Doctor asked him, leaning against the wall.

"I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school." The man commented, looking the Doctor up and down.

"We're kind of new in town." Kari told him. "Now, I know that parents do all sorts of things to get their children into a good school. But what we don't really understand is why you're so desperate to get her out?"

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognise me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face, like an animal." He told them. It was clear that what he had seen had scared him.

"Hmm, I think we should go and meet Signora Calvierri. What do you say, Doctor?" Kari asked, smiling away at him. He couldn't help but smile back at her. "We're going to need your help." She told the man who was still watching them.

"What can I do?" He asked, completely and utterly confused.

"You can create a distraction." Kari was beaming away now.

Kari and the Doctor crept around the side of the house while the man they had met, Guido, distracted the guards by calling for his daughter and trying to get past them. The Doctor grasped her hand tightly after he used his sonic on the locked gates before they snuck in and down some stone stairs.

"Oh, this really is creepy." Kari mumbled to herself. She felt the Doctor squeeze her hand a little tighter in reassurance.

Once they made it to the bottom they found themselves in a large room with a mirror on the wall. The Doctor was so busy looking at himself in the mirror that he hadn't notice Kari slip her hand away from him and stand close to the stairs.

"Hello, handsome." He said, adjusting his bow tie.

"Who are you?" A group of girls dressed in white asked the pair, watching them closely. Kari was actually a little nervous, the way the girls were smiling didn't help.

The Doctor looked at the girls, before looking back at the mirror. "How are you doing that? I am loving it. You're like Houdini, only five slightly scary girls, and he was shorted. Will be shorter."

"Doctor, you're rambling. Maybe we should just… leave." Kari suggested, not taking her eyes from the girls. She knew exactly what they were, and in her mind, they kept flicking to their converted form. And it scared her.

"I'll ask you again, signor, signora. Who are you?" The girls called again at the same time.

"Why don't you check this out?" The Doctor said, whipping out his black leather wallet.

The girls just stared at it, while Kari let out a few giggles. The Doctor looked at her in confusion before taking a look at what he was actually holding. "Library card. Of course, it's with… he's… I need a spare." He said, putting it away.

"Well, you're not getting mine." Kari told him, finally moving a little closer to him, ready to grab his hand and drag him out of there.

"Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen. Ha! Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking?" The Doctor asked.

"You're thinking vampires. I'm thinking, no." Kari told him, earning a frown from the Doctor. She just shrugged at him before nodding back to the girls in front of them.

"But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless…"

"Leave now, signor, signora, or we shall call for the steward. If your lucky." They said, before baring the razor sharp teeth that filled their mouths.

The slowly moved forward and towards the Doctor and Kari, hissing at the pair of them. "Tell me the whole plan." He called, Kari already starting to drag him up the stairs. "One day that will work. Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing. I'm thrilled. Oh this is Christmas."

"No it bloody isn't. Come on." Kari shouted, having had enough and wanting to get out of there already. She knew that the girls weren't going to get them, not yet at least. But she was still worried about so many things. Such as Isabella, Guido's daughter, and him.

They ran back out of the large stone house, which was more like a mansion than anything else. "Okay, let's not do that again." Kari moaned, glad to be out of there.

"Kari, is everything okay?" The Doctor asked her, making her stop walking and look at him.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just a little… nervous today." It wasn't a complete lie, but she wasn't being completely truthful with him either.

"All knowing?" The Doctor asked her.

"Just a little." She replied, giving him a small smile.

"Kari, what else is it? I know you, remember, and I know when something is wrong." The Doctor said, taking hold of both her hands and watching her carefully.

"It's nothing. Honestly."

He frowned at her. "You're lying. Kari, just talk to me. Please." He pleaded with her.

Kari let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter. Now come on, we need to find Amy and Rory. I'm sure they've had just as much fun as us." The Doctor relented and gave her a weak smile, before they took off on a run to find their friends.

"Doctor! Kari!" Amy shouted as she saw them, at the exact spot where they had left them.

"We just met some vampires." The Doctor called, full of excitement.

"We just saw a vampire." Amy cried, just as excited at the Doctor was.

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires!" Amy called again, jumping around with the Doctor.

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, yes. We all saw vampires." She said, sounding a little bored.

"We think we just saw a vampire." Rory said, slightly out of breath as he finally caught up to where they all were.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling us." The Doctor said, just waving Rory off.

"Yeah, yeah. The Doctor and Kari actually went to their house." Amy said, still full of excitement.

By now, Kari was really fed up. "Look, never mind that. We all saw a vampire, brilliant, fantastic in fact. Now we just need to get back in there. I suggest we go and plan this out at our new friends house." She said, tugging at the Doctor's hand.

"Kari, is everything alright?" Amy asked, noticing that she was acting a little strangely.

"Yes, everything is fine. Now come on, we don't have time to waste standing around here nattering. We need to move." Kari snapped. She definitely was not in a very good mood, and now was not a good time for her to tell everyone why.

It didn't take them long to reach Guido's home, and they walked there in silence. Everyone was worried about Kari, she was just acting too oddly for their liking. Something was wrong with their friend, and they were concerned.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor." Guido told them as they looked at the map that was spread across the table.

"You need someone on the inside." Amy concluded.

Straight away Kari glared at her. "No. Not a chance Amy, so get that thought out of your head right now." Her voice was firm on the matter, but Amy was still going to argue with her.

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"That we pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside, and tonight you come down and open the trap door and let us in. I do know Amy, I know a lot more about any of this than you do." Kari told her, still glaring at her. "And the answer is no, Amy. And that is the end of it." The Doctor took hold of her hand and gently squeezed it.

"Oh." Amy said, a little sheepishly. She had noticed Kari's eyes glow a little, and she knew that she was pushing her friend too much.

"Are you insane?" Rory asked his fiancée.

"We don't have another option." Amy protested quietly. She knew that Kari had said no, but there still was no other option.

"She said no, Amy. Listen to her."

That was when Guido decided to speak up. "I work at the arsenal. We build the warships for the navy." He said, pointing to the wooden barrels that Rory was sitting on.

The Doctor casually walked over to them and sniffed at them. "Gunpowder. Most people just nick stationary from where they work." He told Guido. "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive."

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?" The man growled. He only wanted his daughter back, she was all he had left.

"I'll be in there three, four hours tops." Amy said casually, trying to avoid the glare that Kari was giving her.

"Not a chance, Amelia Jessica Pond." Kari ground out. "If anyone is going in there, then it's me. And don't you even try to fight me on this one Doctor. I know exactly what I am doing, I know what is going on in there."

The Doctor just took her by the hand and led her out of the room, needing to talk to her alone. "Kari, what's going on? You're snappy, very snappy."

She let out a sigh. "Nothing is going on. I just don't want to let Amy go in there. Rory is worried about her enough, why put him through even more when I could do this?" She asked him.

"Do you know what is going to happen in there?" He asked her, hoping to get an honest answer from her.

"Yes. So let me do this and not Amy. I can do this, Doctor. Just let me do this." Kari pleaded.

The Doctor thought about it for a minute before nodding at her. "Okay, come on. We best tell the others." They made their way back into the room, and all eyes were on them. "Kari's going in."

"What? You can't be serious?" Rory protested.

"So, I can't go in there but she can?" Amy snorted, clearly not happy with how things had turned out.

"Yes, Amy. I can go in there. You seem to forget who I am sometimes. I just told you, I know a lot more than you. I have a better chance to defend myself against them than you do." Kari knew that she was starting to lose control, but she just couldn't stop it. She didn't even know why she was getting so annoyed so easily.

"This whole thing is mental. They're vampires, for God's sake." Rory cried, not wanting anyone to go in there. He was grateful that Kari had stopped Amy from going in there, but he would prefer if no one went in there.

"We hope." The Doctor mumbled from where he was sitting with Kari.

"So if they're not vampires?" Amy wondered, trying her best to avoid eye contact with Kari. Her eyes were still glowing golden slightly, and it worried her.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire." The Doctor told her, lightly rubbing Kari's back, trying to help calm her down. He hated seeing her get so angry, especially so quickly.

"Fish from space." Kari mumbled, earning a confused look from the Doctor. "Doesn't matter. Come on. Rory, you can get me in there."

Kari and Rory quickly got changed into some more suitable clothing. If she was going to get accepted into that special school, she needed to look the part.

* * *

**A/N: Once again I am sorry for how long it has taken me to get this chapter finished and posted. Life just sucks some times. And sorry for any spelling and grammatical errors as well. **

**To those who have requested episodes, they have been noted and bumped up on the list. Yes, I have a list of episodes to do. **

**So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait. Something is up with Kari, and you'll all find out soon enough why she's acting so strangely. **

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, they really brighten up my day, so keep them coming. **

**Pippa.**


	30. Vampires of Venice Pt2

It was clear that Rory was nervous, it as made even more evident when he started speaking. "So, basically, both of our parents are dead from getting the plague. I'm a gondola driver, so money's a bit tight. So having my sister go to your school for special people would be brilliant. Cheers."

That was when Francesco, the vampire that Amy and Rory had bumped into started looking Kari up and down. She didn't like the look in his eyes, they were hungry, and she knew what he was thinking.

Although it seemed that he was impressed, his mother, Rosanna wasn't. "Carlo, explain yourself. Why have you brought me this imbecile?"

The man quickly stood up straight, realising the woman was talking to him. "Signora, they have references from His Majesty the King of Sweden."

"What?" She asked in shock, looking from Carlo and to Rory and Kari. "Let me see."

That was Rory's cue, and he stepped forwards, approaching the woman and handing her the psychic paper. "Well, now I see what got my steward so excited." She said to Rory, before handing it back to him. "What say you, Francesco? Do you like her?"

He was walking around Kari, taking in every single detail that he could. "Oh, I do, mother. I do." He replied, his eyes gleaming a little.

"Then we would be delighted to accept her. Say goodbye to your sister." Rosanna said, smirking away.

"Tell Uncle D that I'll see him soon, okay? Everything will be fine." Kari called to Rory as he was practically dragged from the room.

After that, Kari was led by the steward up to the dormitory. She noticed the girls watching her as she went, and she knew that each and every one of them had been fully converted already. There was no hope for them, but there was for one other person in there.

"There are clothes on the bed. Get changed and wait here." Carlo said, before he left the room. All the girls that were in the room left as well, except for one.

"Isabella? Everything is going to be okay." Kari said, going and sitting next to the woman on the bed. "I know what they're doing here, and I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of here."

"The sunlight burns my skin…" The woman said, staring into space.

"I know, like candle wax. Isabella, listen to me, you're getting out of here. You're father is coming, and so are my friends." Kari assured her. "I have a job to do, just keep the faith."

The woman nodded at her, and Kari quickly got changed. She knew the way down to the cellar, and she knew what was going to happen to her when she got there. But she was prepared, she had a better plan than Amy.

A while later, Kari made her way down to the cellar, a lamp lit with a single candle in her hand. "Yeah, this place really is creepy." She whispered to herself as she made her way down the final few steps.

She noticed the hatch and was quick to pull the bolt away. "Okay, job done." She said, before letting out a sigh. She turned around and was faced with Carlo, and several of the girls. "Time for the chair?" She asked, before being dragged out of the room.

Kari knew what was coming, and she knew there was no point in struggling. They finally reached the green-lit room, where Rosanna was waiting for her. "Psychic paper. Did you really think that would work on me?" She asked her. "Where are you from? Did you fall through the Chasm?"

"Mother this is pointless. Let's just start the process and…" Francesco stated, looking at Kari eagerly.

"Hold your tongue, Francesco. I need to know what this girl is doing in a world of savages with psychic paper. Who are you with? You see, I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you. What are you doing in my school?" Rosanna asked as the girls brought the chair forward.

"I'm running. From the silence." Kari whispered. "My home, it's gone. I don't even remember it anymore. I don't belong here, just like you, Rosanna."

The woman just looked at her, she had not expected that kind of response from her. "You ran from the silence?" Kari just nodded at her. "How did you end up here?"

"I… I don't really know. There were cracks, through the whole of time and space. This is where I ended up." Kari told her, just hoping that Rosanna would believe her. All she had to do was keep her talking until the Doctor came for her.

"And why did you come to my school?" Rosanna asked her, seeming a little calmer than she would have been with Amy.

"You're not human. You're using a perception filter. I figured that maybe someone else had fallen through the Chasm, that maybe I wasn't the only one." Kari told her, trying to make it sound as believable as she could. So far, she was rather proud of herself, Rosanna was falling for it, hook, line and sinker.

"_Kari? Where are you? Are you okay?"_ The Doctor called to her in a panic.

"_I'm fine. Been a slight change in the plan. You better come and get me."_ She called back to him. Kari was wondering how long it was going to take for him to actually get there, because she knew she couldn't stop Rosanna forever.

"You can join us, become one of us." Rosanna said, before Kari was forced into the chair and strapped down.

"Yeah, um, as much fun as that sounds, I'd rather not." Kari told her, now starting to feel a little bit nervous. "How exactly will I become one of you? Even though I'm completely against it."

"First, we drink you until you're dry. Then we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream now faded." Rosanna told her, walking around her in the chair, keeping her eyes fixed on Kari's neck.

"Or you die. That can happen." Francesco added.

"Oh, well that's peachy. And what if I manage to survive this process? What happens to me once I become one of you?" Kari asked, praying that the Doctor would get there soon.

"Then there are ten thousand husbands waiting for you in the water." Rosanna told her.

Kari let a smirk form on her face. "As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to have to decline. I think I recently got engaged, but thanks for the offer." She said, before kicking the spot where she knew the perception filter was.

Rosanna let out a scream, as she transformed into the giant lobster type creature Kari could always see in her mind when she looked at them. That was when she heard a commotion coming from outside of the room, and she knew her rescue party had arrived.

"Cab for Kari?" The Doctor called from outside of the room, faced with Rosanna, Francesco and Carlo.

While everyone else was distracted, Kari tried to tug herself free from the bonds that were keeping her trapped in the chair. "Come on, get me out, get me out." She whispered to herself, feeling the fear and panic starting to rise within her. It reminded her all too much of what had happened before, with Van Statten.

Kari was in luck, Isabella appeared at her side and started to undo the bonds that restrained her. "Oh, am I glad to see you, Isabella. Please, get me out of these." She pleaded. Kari hadn't really thought about how it would affect her if she were strapped down. It hadn't even occurred to her at the time.

Once she was free, they ran into the corridor and straight into the Doctor, Rory and Amy. "Kari!" The Doctor called, grabbing hold of her quickly.

"Move! She's going to seal the house." Kari said, pushing the Doctor forward. "Oh, and by the way, Doctor, they're not vampires." She told him as they made their way down a winding stone staircase.

"What?"

"Yeah, sorry. They're not vampires, they're aliens. I saw them, but I kind of already knew." Kari told him, waiting for him to be annoyed with her for not telling him sooner.

"Ha! Classic." He said, pointing the sonic at the hatch in hopes of slowing the others down.

"That's good news? What is wrong with you people?" Rory asked in horror. Amy was laughing, along with the Doctor. Kari was slightly different, she seemed to be in a bit of a daze and not really paying much attention to anything now.

"Come on, Rory. Move." The Doctor said, nudging him forward. "Keep moving. Come on, guys." He called, holding back the so-called vampires with his huge UV light.

"Quickly, quickly." Isabella called at she opened the door, letting the sunlight stream in. "Get out. Quick, quick."

They all ran out, moving as fast as they could so that they wouldn't be caught. "Come on, Isabella." Kari called, holding a hand out to the woman.

"I can't." She cried, flinching from pain in the sunlight.

"Yes you can, come on, Isabella. You're father is waiting for you. We can change you back, please." Kari begged. Isabella grabbed her hand, clenching her teeth as she stepped into the bright sunlight.

Before she had managed to take another step she was grabbed from behind and pulled back. "No!" Kari screamed, trying to open the door. Only she seemed to forget what would happen if she did, and electricity flowed through her, making her fall to the ground.

"Kari!" The Doctor cried, rushing to her side and she crumpled on the few wooden stairs leading to the door. "Kari? Can you hear me?" He asked, kneeling down next to her.

"Is she dead?" Amy asked, wondering if the same thing would have happened to her if she had been in the school instead.

"No, she's breathing." The Doctor told her. "Kari, come on, wake up."

It took a few minutes, but Kari finally started to regain consciousness. "Doctor?" She whispered, not yet realising where she was.

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked her softly, brushing the golden locks from her face.

"Like I'm going to kill Jack Harkness the next time I see him." She moaned, not yet ready to open her eyes.

"Okay, why?"

That was when Kari finally came to her senses. She opened her eyes and sat up right. There was a concerned look on the Doctor's face as he watched the panic flash across her eyes before being replaced with relief. "Because he deserves it?" She said innocently.

"Kari, what happened?" He asked her, knowing that something had caused her to panic.

"Oh, nothing. They just wanted to drink all my blood and replace it with their own. Nothing to worry about really." She told him, playing with her hands slightly. "And they had me strapped to a chair." Kari whispered.

"Oh, Kari. I'm so sorry." He said, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Doctor. It was my decision to go in there. It's done, it's over. Now come on, we need to end this." Kari told him.

"You have a plan?" The Doctor asked her, understanding that she wanted to move on from what had happened.

"Sort of. I have a thing. Let's go and have a chat with Rosanna." Kari told him, before turning to Rory and Amy. "You head back with Guido. The Doctor and I will be there soon. No questions just go."

They both nodded at her and got into the gondola that Guido was standing by. He was upset, he had seen his daughter, and yet she hadn't been able to escape. Unfortunately, Kari knew what was going to be happening to her now, and she hated it.

"Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you, Sister of the Water?" The Doctor said, sitting on the throne as Rosanna walked into the room.

"No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper." She asked, causing the Doctor to nod a little. "Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. but seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank, hence no reflection." The Doctor rambled.

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?" He asked, making Rosanna laugh a little.

"Self preservation overrides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Rosanna told him, wandering around the room a little.

"Where's Isabella?" The Doctor asked her, wanting to get straight to the point.

"My turn. Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey." He answered. Kari let out a sigh as she hid behind the throne. She knew that it was hard for him to think of his home.

"You should be in a museum. Or in a mausoleum." Rosanna commented, studying him carefully.

The Doctor just tried his best to ignore her. Kari had warned him that he wasn't going to like some of the answers. "Why are you here?"

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

He shrugged a little. "Wedding present. The Silence?" He asked.

Rosanna looked at him nervously before answering the Doctor. "There were cracks. Some were tiny. Some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people, and through others we saw Silence and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours, and the crack snapped shut behind us. Saturnyne was lost."

"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark Two?"

Suddenly something sparked in Rosanna's mind. "And you can both help me. We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"

"Where's Isabella?" The Doctor asked, getting up from the throne. Kari knew that was her cue and was ready to come out of hiding.

"Isabella?" The confusion was evident on Rosanna's face.

"The girl who saved me." Kari called, stepping out and standing next to the Doctor. "But I already know what you've done to her. You've executed her. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't from around here, Rosanna."

Rosanna look from Kari to the Doctor, trying to piece together how she fitted in with him before settling on the Doctor. "I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose." She said, taking a step closer to him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you? I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish. Plus, I think Kari would have something to say about that." The Doctor said, grasping Kari's hand tightly and grinning at her a little.

"Carlo?" Rosanna called. "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophise."

"This ends today, Rosanna." Kari warned her.

"We will tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone." The Doctor said, before seeing Carlo grab hold of Kari's arm. "Take your hands off her." He growled, before turning his attention back to Rosanna. "And do you know why? You didn't know Isabella's name. you didn't know Isabella's name."

The Doctor tightened his grip on Kari's hand before walking out of the gate with his head held high. "We better get back, Doctor. There's still a lot to work out."

"Kari, are you sure you're okay?" The Doctor asked her, as she dragged him back to Guido's home.

"Yup. Completely and totally fine." Kari told him.

It wasn't long until they were sitting around the table at Guido's. "Argh. I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think." The Doctor rambled, messing up his hair a little.

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun." Amy said, trying to be helpful.

The Doctor quickly put his hand over Amy's mouth. "Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."

"It's the school thing I don't understand." Rory added, earning a hand over is mouth as well.

"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."

Then it was Guido's turn. "I say we take the fight to them."

"Ah, ah, ah." The Doctor said, nodding at Rory, who eventually got the hint and put his hand over Guido's mouth. "Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts to change the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool." He rambled.

"Doctor, she's going to sink Venice." Kari said, moving away from the window. "And repopulate it with the girl's that have already been fully converted."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women. You need blokes." Rory pointed out.

"Yup, and she has blokes. There are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water. Only the male offspring survived the journey here." Kari informed them, keeping her eyes on the window.

The Doctor just looked at Kari. Something about the way she was acting was bothering him, she knew what was going on, and he knew that was well. That was when they heard a thump coming from above them. "The people upstairs are very noisy." The Doctor said looking at Guido.

"There aren't any people upstairs." Kari and Guido said at the same time, both of them looking at the ceiling.

"Do you know, I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that? Well, apart from Kari, obviously." The Doctor rambled.

"Is it the vampires?" Rory wondered.

"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space." The Doctor called, before the window that Kari had been so interested in smashed, several women gathered there as well as at the door.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory asked, as the Doctor pulled out his UV light and waved it at the women. That was when Kari pulled out her sonic screwdriver and used it so that everyone could see their true form.

"What's happened to them?" Guido asked, seeing the lobster creature that Kari had always been able to see.

"There's nothing left of them. They've been fully converted." Kari told him.

"Blimey, fish from space have never been so…" Kari whacked him around the back of the head. "Okay, move."

They all charged down the stairs and out of the front door. All except for Guido. "Stay away from the door, Doctor!" He shouted, before slamming the door closed and bolting it.

"No. Guido, don't do this!" Kari yelled, hammering on the door. "Stupid wood. Stupid sonic doesn't do stupid wood." She cried, kicking at the door.

"Kari, come on. We have to move." The Doctor said, tugging at her waist. "You know what he's going to do, we have to get out of the way." He managed to drag her away from the building, just as it exploded. The force of it knocked both of them off their feet, the Doctor landing on his back with Kari clutching onto his chest.

"That is it." Kari growled. "No one else." There were tears in her eyes now, she had tried to save Isabella but failed, and now her father had gone as well.

Before the Doctor could say anything, the sky darkened and a storm hit. People began to scream, running around in a panic. He helped Kari up, before turning to Amy and Rory. "Rosanna is initiating the final phase."

"We need to stop her. Come on." Amy said, ready to run off and straight into danger.

"No, no, no. Get back to the TARDIS." The Doctor told her, gripping Kari's hand tightly.

"The pair of you can't stop her." She tried to protest.

But the Doctor was having none of it. "We don't discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it." He shouted at her. Kari could have sworn she saw tears in Amy's eyes as she ran away from them.

"Thank you." Said, before chasing after her.

"You're welcome."

Kari just looked at him. "You and Rory had a little chat on your way to get me, didn't you?" She asked him. He just nodded at her. "Not so happy about all the trouble Amy has been getting into?" The Doctor shook his head. "You did the right thing. Anyway, we need to go and stop Rosanna."

Kari and the Doctor charged through the streets, ignoring the panic and chaos around them. They managed to get into the house easily, since everyone was too busy screaming in terror. Kari led the doctor straight to the throne and pulled the back of it open, revealing a mass of wires and lights.

"You're too late." Rosanna said, spotting the pair in the room. "Such determination, just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"The girls have gone, Rosanna." Kari told her softly.

"You're lying." There was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

"Shouldn't we be dead?" Kari pointed out, making her point. "Rosanna, there are two hundred thousand people in this city. Please, don't do this."

Rosanna just looked at her. "So save them." She said, before turning on her heel and walking out of the room.

"Time for you to be brilliant, Doctor." Kari said, looking out of the window and up at the sky. The storm was getting worse, and the rain was pounding down on Venice. "Possibly before the earthquake hits us."

"Earthquake?" He asked her, not having caught on to what she was talking about yet. It took him a few more seconds before it finally clicked. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Now get to work." Kari said, giving him an encouraging nudge.

A few minutes later, Amy and Rory both came charging into the room as well. Get out. I need to stabilise the storm." The Doctor shouted at them, while Kari was dragged along with him.

"We're not leaving you. Either of you." Rory declared.

"Right, so one minutes it's all you make people a danger to themselves, and the next it's we're not leaving you. But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the…" The Doctor was cut off by a great rumbling and the ground beneath them shaking violently, knocking them all off their feet.

The Doctor grabbed hold of Kari and held her close to him, making sure that she didn't hit the floor.

"What was that?" Rory asked, getting back to his feet and helping Amy up.

"Earthquake." Kari called, as she and the Doctor got up.

"You okay?" The Doctor asked her quietly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She replied, trying to find a reason for his sudden worry.

"Wait, an earthquake?" Amy asked, looking at the debris that had fallen from the ceiling.

"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes." Kari told her, looking back at the throne and the lights flashing inside of it. "But hey, don't worry about them."

"No?"

"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake." She said with a grin. "Hey, Doctor? How do you feel about heights in this regeneration?"

He look at her cautiously. "Why?"

"Well, you're going to have a climb. In the rain, to get to the roof." Kari informed him. "Or, if you still have a problem with heights, I'll go."

"Doctor, what is she talking about?" Amy asked, not able to follow the conversation they were having at all.

"Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the programme, so, tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator." The Doctor said, following the thick wires leading out from the throne and to the window.

"It's one hell of a climb, Doctor." Kari warned him, as he started making his way out of the window.

"Behave, and stay safe. Don't do anything stupid." The Doctor warned her, before quickly kissing the top of her head.

She shook her head and went back over to join Amy and Rory, who were happily pulling apart the throne in front of them. There were sparks flying from it as they destroyed the machine inside. "I think that's damaged enough." Kari said, looking at the smoke billowing from it. "He should be on the roof by now."

Kari ran outside and looked up at the grey and miserable sky before turning her attention to the figure clinging on to the top of the building.

"There he is. Come on." Rory shouted, holding onto Amy's hand tightly as they watched the Doctor.

"_It's a very tiny little switch, Doctor. You can do this, easy."_ Kari called to him, knowing that he was looking inside the brass dome, trying to work out how to stop it.

He flicked the switch and the rain stopped in an instant. The clouds all dispersed leaving a bright blue sky and the sun shining down on the people below. There were cheers and applauds coming from the crowds who had been watching the Doctor.

"Now he just has to get down from there." Kari mumbled to herself. _"Hurry up, Doctor. We need to save Rosanna."_

In a panic, the Doctor made his way back down, and rather quickly at that. He grabbed Kari's hand and they ran through the house once again, looking for Rosanna. When they found her, she was wearing a plain white dress, and standing close to the edge of a plank over the water.

"Rosanna!" Kari and the Doctor cried at the same time.

"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask?"

"I told you, you can't go back and change time. You mourn, but you live. I know, Rosanna. I did it." The Doctor told her, carefully taking a step forward.

"Tell me, Doctor. Can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race?" She asked him. "Remember us. Dream of us." She said, before stepping off the plank.

The Doctor and Kari just weren't quick enough, and she plunged under the water, to be consumed by her children who would never leave that place. "We should have saved her." Kari whispered, as they walked back to find Amy and Rory. "We should have saved so many people today.

"Kari, you can't save everyone. You tried to save Isabella, you tried to save Guido and you tried to save Rosanna. You done everything you could, none of this was your fault." The Doctor assured her, hugging her tightly. He knew that she sometimes had moments like that, where she wished she could have saved more people, and blamed herself for the deaths.

"We need to find Amy and Rory." Kari whispered, pulling herself away from the Doctor a little.

"Now then, what about you two, eh? Next stop Leadworth Registry Office? Maybe I can give you away." The Doctor suggested, holding Kari's hand tightly as they walked back towards the TARDIS.

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've…"

"Stay." Amy said, stopping and facing her fiancée. "With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

The couple both turned and looked at Kari and the Doctor. "Fine with me." He said, glancing at Kari.

"Brilliant idea." Kari told them, giving them all her best smile.

"Yeah? Yes, I would like that." Rory said as they reached the blue box.

"Nice one. I will pop the kettle on. Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my girl, got my boys. My work here is done." Amy said, before disappearing inside the TARDIS.

"Er, we are not her boys." Rory protested to the Doctor.

"Yeah, you are." Kari told them, before heading into the TARDIS herself. She started wandering aimlessly around the console, flicking different switches as she went. There was so much on her mind, and she was feeling so confused.

* * *

**A/N: Once again, sorry for the rather long wait. I've been working pretty hard the past week, trying to get on top of everything. I hope you guys understand. **

**Thank you for all sticking with the story, and for everyone who has favourited/followed and my lovely reviewers. **

**Well, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. There is a lot to come over the next few chapters. And I just want to point out, I have been taking note of people requests, and they are on the list. **

**Pippa.**


	31. Time to Talk

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. I've only just got out of hospital so haven't really be able to update. Again, I'm sorry for the wait and that this is a shorter chapter than normal. **

* * *

Kari was sitting by herself in the library. She just needed a break from everyone and everything, so that she could sort things out in her mind. Only it was never that easy, and she just couldn't get anything straight in her head.

She kept thinking about the way things should have been, without her in the Doctor's life. There had been so many changes, all leading up to one giant fact. That the Doctor was with her, not Rose, and not River. It was something she was struggling to get her head around, and she just couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Hey, I thought I'd find you in here." The Doctor's voice floated into the room. Kari looked up and saw him standing a little distance in front of her. "Kari, what's wrong?"

"With everything I have seen, everything I know, I never saw this coming." She mumbled as the Doctor sat down next to her.

"Saw what?"

"This. Us, right here, right now. I never saw it, I never expected it. And… I don't know how to accept it." Kari told him truthfully. "I know so much about you. I know your past and I know your future, but I just never saw myself there. How can any of this even be real?"

"Kari, you need to talk to me about all of this. You're not making any sense, and I'm pretty used to some crazy things coming from your mouth." The Doctor said to her, taking a tight hold of one of her hands.

"So, in the future you tell me something that you said you should have told me a long time ago. And then you give me this ring." She told him, twisting the ring around on her finger a little. "I am just so confused here. I don't even know how long I've been jumping around for, but you've always known me."

The Doctor let out a sigh. He should have seen that coming. Kari had asked him questions, and he had avoided giving her a straight answer. "In the future, my future, I tell you that I love you. And I do, Kari. You have been in my life for as long as I can remember, and you are the person who has always been there for me. I have wanted to tell you for a long time how much you mean to me, but you already knew."

"Yeah, but that was future me, after this point in time. Before then, you just kept secrets from me." Kari pointed out. Her head was still in such a mess, and she didn't know how to sort it all out.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I knew that I told you in the future, and I had to wait until the time. I still have to wait until that time." He pointed out.

"This is all just so messed up." Kari whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "How can this even be real? How can you say that you love me? I'm no one, I'm nothing special. You deserve so much more than someone like me."

"Because you are brilliant. You are my fantastic, brilliant, beautiful Kari. And nothing will ever change that. It's hard for me not to love you." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

She let out a sigh, knowing that no matter what she said the Doctor would find something to say against it. "But it's not right for you to love me. I mean, come on, we never meet in the right order, I just randomly appear in your life. Can't really say that would be helpful for a stable relationship."

"Kari, I have known you for over 900 years. It doesn't matter that we never meet in the right order. All that matters to me, right now, is that you know the truth." The Doctor told her softly. He was worried about her, very worried. He knew that she had only just found out, but he didn't know how he had told her.

"My head is so messed up. I don't know if I can handle all of this. I mean…" Kari trailed off, knowing that he hadn't found out how they first met yet. How she turned from human to Time Lord. "One day, you'll understand why."

"I'm sure I will."

"I just don't know how to deal with all of this." She really was lost. It was bad enough when her life was turned upside down for the first time, but now it was all just happening again.

"Kari, look at me." The Doctor asked her quietly. "Just look at me." She slowly lifted her gaze and looked at him. "How do you feel?" He asked her. "About… me."

She thought back to when she was with Jack, and how he had asked her if she loved the Doctor. She hadn't been able to give him a straight answer, because she did, but knew that she shouldn't. Everyone loves the Doctor, in one way or another. Before she had met him, Kari had always wondered what the Doctor was really like, and if he really was as lovable as they made him out to be on the show. And he was.

At first she had just been glad to get to know him, to be a part of his exciting life. And then she started to genuinely fall for him, even though she was trying to stop herself. She had told herself that it was just the fan part of her scream out, but it really wasn't. She had been so please to escape her mundane life, it had just been so exciting, as well as terrifying.

"Kari?" The Doctor called, seeing she had drifted off into her own little world.

She quickly shook her head, bringing herself back to the reality she was living in. "Sorry… I just…" Kari saw the concerned look on his face, and she knew she had to give him some kind of an answer. "When I first met you, I was happy. I liked you, but you were a friend. And I loved you like a friend." She told him.

"And what about now?" He asked her curiously.

"Now… I don't know. I like you more than I did before, more than I ever should have allowed myself." Kari told him, still gazing into his ancient eyes. "You know, when I told Jack, he out right asked me. And I couldn't answer him."

"Why not?" Kari was sure she could see hurt in the Doctor's eyes. Clearly this wasn't how he had seen things going.

"Because I was scared. So many people love you, but very few receive the same love from you in return." She admitted.

"Kari…"

"No, Doctor. Please, let me speak." He nodded at her, letting her continue talking. "There are too many things that I easily accepted. I'm not going to do that any more. You can't expect to tell me that you love me, and then have me falling at your feet. That is not how it works."

"I know, Kari. And I never expected that to happen. And I know that this isn't something you're going to just accept." The Doctor told her.

"Then give me a straight answer, Doctor. What exactly does this ring mean? And I swear, if you come out with 'whatever you want it to mean' then I will hit you." Kari warned him. She just wanted some answers, and the truth. She was so sick of being messed around all the time, so sick of not knowing.

"I know what I want it to mean, but I know you're not ready for that. So right now, at this moment in time, this is a promise ring. I promise you, Kari, that I will always be here for you. No matter what happens." The Doctor told her, gripping her hand a little tighter. "You mean more to me than anything else in the universe."

"Yeah, well you… you are my universe, Theta." Kari whispered, letting her gaze finally fall. "You have been since the day we met. Well, sort of."

"Spoilers?" The Doctor asked, tugging at her hand, and trying to get her to smile.

"Yeah, spoilers." She replied, trying her hardest not to smile at him. But it was hard, and she wanted to smile.

"You know, I like it when you call me Theta." He said, giving her a little nudge. "Kari, you need to start talking to me more, and telling me how you're feeling."

"Well right now, I'm tried, and fed up, and feeling completely exhausted. I'm mentally and emotionally drained. I feel like I could sleep for a week after having cried for a few hours." She told him honestly.

"Why do you want to cry?" The Doctor asked her, pulling her a little closer to him.

"Because I can't cope. People cry if they're hurt, or upset. But I feel like crying just because I can't cope with anything at the moment. I don't want attention, I just want to release all this… frustration." Kari said, trying to keep herself together. If she was completely honest with herself, she was ready to break down and cry there and then.

"Then do it. Kari, if you want to cry then cry. I promise you I will be here, every single time. I will always be here for you." The Doctor told her, making sure to pull her even closer towards him. She was now completely wrapped up in his arms, and without realising it, she let a few tears slip down her cheeks.

"I just don't know if I can do this anymore. This isn't my life. None of this is. I don't deserve to have someone like you in my life." Kari told him, holding back a sob as she did. "The whole of time and space, and you're stuck with me."

"And I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else." The Doctor assured her, holding her tightly.

Kari couldn't help but let out a chuckle as she tried to pull herself together. She knew that she was just being over dramatic, that it was nowhere near as bad as she thought things were. She just couldn't help the way she was feeling sometimes.

"So, what do you want to do now?" The Doctor asked her, feeling her relax a little in his arms.

"Sleep?" She suggested. "Been a while since I had any of that. I think. You know, I don't even remember anymore."

"Right." The Doctor said, getting up from where they were sitting and taking Kari with him. "Bath and then bed for you." He announced. "Amy is showing Rory around, so I doubt we'll see much more of them till they have slept as well."

He started to lead her to her bedroom, his arm still wrapped around her. "You know, I really like Rory. He's pretty awesome." Kari told him as they walked.

"How many times have you met him then?" The Doctor asked curiously.

"Uh, twice? But I know everything there is to know about him, and Amy. I think those two make a pretty good couple as well."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Good luck to him. Amy is a handful, we both know that."

A small laugh escaped from Kari's lips. "Oh Doctor, you have no idea how much of a handful she really is."

"Spoilers?" He asked her, stopping as they reached her door.

"Yup, spoilers. Now, I'm going to have a bath and completely pass out. I have one request." Kari said, looking up at him.

"And what's that?"

"Please don't do anything to wake me up. I don't want to have to be woken up because you've decided to fix something that wasn't broken. Or because you decided to go off somewhere because you were bored and someone has to come and save you." She said, letting out a sigh. She felt like she could sleep for a week, she just wanted to sleep without having something wake her up.

The Doctor pouted at her a little. "I don't go around fixing things that aren't broken." He protested, earning a rather shaky corridor. "Oh, okay. Fine, I will behave."

"Thank you. Just for one night, honestly. Then you can go and do whatever you want to do."

He pulled her closer towards him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Anything for my Kari." He said, kissing the top of her head. "I hope you sleep well."

"Thanks, so do I." She mumbled, quite happy to just nestle her head into his chest. But he pulled away and she knew that moment was over. "Night, Doctor." She called, opening the door to her room. She gave him one last smile before closing it and heading into the bathroom, where she planned on have a very long soak.

The moment she opened the door she saw that the tub was already filled and the bubbles were slipping down the side. "Thank you, sexy. What would I do without you as well?" She said, stripping off her clothes and dipping a foot into the water.

It was nice and hot, and she gently lowered herself in, letting the water roll over the sides. She didn't care about the water on the floor, because it dried up almost instantly in the TARDIS. Kari just let her mind wander, not thinking about anything or worrying over what was going to happen next. She just wanted to be free of everything for a while.

The Doctor stuck to his word and didn't wake her, or do anything that could disturb her. When Kari finally decided to wake up, she felt much better than when she had gone to sleep. She was more relaxed, and her mind was clear from everything she had been worrying about.

She didn't leave her room straight away. She pulled out her laptop and quickly typed up the episodes that had passed. She didn't bother to go into detail, because right now, she just didn't want to think about it all.

It wasn't long until she was done and decided to get herself dressed and head out of her room. As she was in such a good mood, she decided to pick out a knee length TARDIS blue summer dress, with silver embroidery around the hem. After grabbing a matching pair of Converses, she strolled out of the room and to the kitchen.

Kari couldn't help but smile when she saw a mug of fresh, steaming tea sitting on the table waiting for her. "Once again, thank you sexy." She called, sitting down and taking a sip. She was actually surprised that she was still in the same place, and hadn't been pulled somewhere else already.

She sat back in the chair, closing her eyes and just listening to the hum of the ship. It always helped her to relax, that familiar noise that she never thought could possibly be real.

"_Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello?"_ An unknown voiced echoed through her mind. _"Please, someone help me. Hello?" _

Kari's eyes flew open and she looked around the room. There was no one there, and she knew it wasn't the Doctor calling her. But she could have sworn she had just heard a voice.

"_Help me. Please."_ The voice called again.

This time she jumped out of the chair, knocking it to the floor. Her hearts were pounding in her chest. There had only ever been two people speaking to her that way, and she knew it was neither of them. _"I can hear you."_ She called back, closing her eyes and trying to work out the source of the voice.

"_Please, help me. You have to help me."_ The voice cried to her.

That was when something clicked, and Kari realised it was a child crying out for help. _"What's happened? Why do you need help?"_

For a moment, Kari didn't think they were going to answer her, but she then heard the voice once more. _"They're going to kill me. They killed my family and now they're going to kill me. Please, help me."_ There was panic in the child's voice, and Kari knew that she needed to do something.

She wasted no time in charging out of the kitchen and towards the main console, going as fast as she could. She spotted the Doctor, Amy and Rory hanging around chatting, but she ignored them and the strange looks they were giving her. _"Tell me where you are." _

The trio watched her in confusion as she rushed around the console. "Kari, is everything okay?" The Doctor asked, trying to catch up with her.

"_Help is coming. I promise."_ Kari called to the voice, pulling down the lever and sending them off into the vortex. "You didn't hear it, did you?" She asked him as she held onto the console tightly.

"Hear what? Kari what's going on?" There was worry etched across his face now.

She just looked at him, a serious expression on her face. "Someone needs help. We're going to help them."

Amy and the Doctor just shared a strange look. "Um, Kari? Who needs our help?" Amy asked her, holding onto the railings next to Rory.

"Just… someone, okay?" Kari called, just as all the shaking and noise stopped. "Okay, let's go and help."

"Kari, do you want to explain what's going on now?" The Doctor asked her, grabbing hold of her hand as she went to walk past him.

"I… heard a voice. Someone calling for help, in my mind." She admitted. "It was a child."

That was all the Doctor needed to hear to understand why she had acted in such a way to get them somewhere. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go and help." He said, beaming away at her. He was actually proud that she had just done what she thought was right.

The pair of them strolled over to the doors, hand in hand. "Come along, Ponds." The Doctor called, pulling the door open and letting Kari step out first.

Kari stood there, her eyes wide as she looked at their surroundings. "What happened?" She whispered, looking at the charred trees and the ash covered ground. It was clear that something had happened, something terrible.

"I don't know." The Doctor told her, looking around for himself. "This is wrong, this is very wrong."

"So, can someone explain to us exactly what we are doing here?" Amy asked, stepping out of the blue box with Rory behind her.

Kari turned and looked at the couple. "I had a… telepathic message. A child, crying out for help. You should know by now, Amy, that the Doctor and I could never just ignore a crying child."

Amy nodded, understanding exactly what she saw saying. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Amy wondered, grabbing hold of Rory's arm a little.

Kari let out a sigh. "I have a terrible feeling we need to follow the trail of destruction." She told them, her eyes scanning the area some more. She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, like they were being watched. It probably didn't help that this was something she knew nothing about.

The four of them walked in silence, following a muddy trail lined with blackened trees. Even the ground had been burnt. "So, I'm guessing this is bad, yeah?" Amy said, noticing how quiet both Kari and the Doctor were being. "Usually you'd be explaining where we are, what the place is like, and giving us a full history lesson."

"This planet has always been peaceful, and green. Now everything is just… black." The Doctor said, a frown forming on his face.

"It looks like a war zone." Kari whispered, feeling very uncomfortable. She just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, that there was something lurking in the background.

"I think maybe it is." The Doctor told her, squeezing her hand. "And that really isn't good."

"Oh, well isn't that lovely." Amy grumbled as they carried on walking. "Do we even know where we are going?"

The Doctor just looked at Kari, hoping she would know the way. "We're going that way." She said, pointing ahead of them and at what looked like a building surrounded by mist. "That's where we need to be."

"Kari, are you sure about this?" The Doctor asked her, making the group stop.

"Honestly? No. I have no idea what we are walking into and I have no idea what has happened." She admitted to him.

"But you always know what's happened, or is going to happen." Amy said, starting to sound a little worried herself.

"This isn't one of those times. Right now, we're going in blind. The one thing I do know is that someone needs help, and we're going to help them."

The Doctor just smiled at her. "We're on Karleon, home to one of the most magnificent and peaceful creatures this side of the galaxy." He told them all. "They are creatures of nature, they abhor violence, they respect every living thing in the universe."

"So someone took advantage of that, and decided to attack them?" Kari asked, as they started walking once more. The child knew they were there, that help was coming.

"But why?" He pondered, examining the damage as they passed it. Even he couldn't make any sense of what had happened.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." Kari was starting to feel even more anxious now. She never thought she would hate not knowing what was going to happen, but right now she did. She couldn't help but feel a little scared as well.

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**A/N: I'll say it one more time, I'm sorry for the long time since I last updated. I couldn't really do much in the hospital without the internet. **

**So, the group are off on their own little adventure that Kari knows absolutely nothing about. What could possibly go wrong? **

**Thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story, even with my terrible updating recently. I'm trying to get better, honest. I finish Uni until September soon, so things should get better. **

**Pippa.**


	32. The Angel of Time Pt1

**A/N: Just a quick note for people, if you don't like my stories, then don't read them. These are my stories, and I'm not forcing anyone to read them. So if you don't like them, move on and don't read them. **

* * *

Kari wasn't feeling any less scared as they stood before the gigantic, dome shaped building before them. The glass reflected everything, there was no way that they could see anything that was inside. There was shattered glass everywhere, and gaping holes in the dome. _"Do you have the feeling that we're being watched?"_ She asked the Doctor, as he cautiously looked around.

"_Ever since we left the TARDIS."_ He confirmed. That just made her even more nervous. She really did hate going in blind, no knowing what was going to happen and if they were going to make it out of there in once piece.

"So, what's the plan now then?" Amy asked, breaking the silence they were all standing in.

"Well, I guess we have to go inside. The child is in there somewhere, but something is telling me there are others as well, others that aren't going to be too pleased to see us." Kari said, absentmindedly twisting the ring around on her finger. She found that she was doing that now, because it still felt strange to have it there.

"Now, since we have no idea what we are walking into, and Kari has no idea either, we all need to stick together. No wandering off." The Doctor told them firmly. He could see just how worried Kari was, and he knew he was going to have to help her through all of this.

"Right, so we have no idea what's going on, and we're just going to walk right in there?" Rory asked, thinking it was a completely stupid idea.

"Yes. Come along, Ponds." He called, taking Kari's hand tightly in his own as they walked forward.

They reach a large set of wooden doors, and the Doctor and Rory was quick to use their strength to open them. They creaked and groaned from the movement, and Kari cringed at the sound. Everything was silent, and it was creeping her out.

Inside was just as full of destruction. Walls had crumbled or been destroyed and the remains of furniture lay within the debris. "Look's like the fighting went on in here as well." Kari muttered, looking around at everything. There were charred walls, as well large holes that were probably caused by a blaster.

"Kari, do you know where the child is? We need to find them and get out as soon as we can." The Doctor asked her, hoping that she could give him something to work with.

"All I know is that he is in here somewhere."

"He?" Amy questioned, noticing that Kari had given the child a gender.

She nodded at her. "Yeah, he. He can't tell me exactly where he is, because he doesn't know. He says that it's cold and dark and that he is scared."

"Then we need to find him and then work out what has happened here." The Doctor said, keeping his grip on Kari's hand.

They had been walking for a short time, when suddenly Kari stopped. _"We're being followed." _She whispered in the Doctor's mind.

He frowned at her. _"Are you sure?" _He didn't know what was making her feel like they were being followed, but he wasn't ready to doubt her. There had been too many times when she had been right, and even if she didn't know what was going on, he wasn't going to start doubting her now.

"_Positive. We're being followed. I'm not sure if we should be running now or not." _The Doctor just nodded at her. "Hey, Amy, Rory?" She called softly, getting their full attention. "Run."

With the Doctor still holding her hand, the pair started running forward, the red head and her fiancée quickly on their heels. They could hear the pounding footsteps of whoever had been following them behind, trying to keep up with them.

Kari spotted a door that what slightly open. "In here, quickly." She shouted, dragging the Doctor with her. The moment the four of them were in the room, she slammed the door shut and whipped out her sonic screwdriver, securely locking it.

She put a finger to her lips, signalling for everyone to stay quiet. They heard something pounding towards the door, and a low growl emitting through the air. The sound got closer and closer, the speed of whatever it was that had been following them had slowed.

Kari was holding her breath, waiting for the unknown beast to pass. Amy was holding onto Rory's arm, a worried look on both their faces. The Doctor had his ear pressed up against the door, making sure Kari was standing behind him as he listened.

Then there was a noise that made all four of them jump. Guns started firing, and people were shouting. "Get it, take it down, now!" A male voice called on the other side of the door.

"How did it even get in here?" Someone shouted over the gunfire.

"I don't care how it got in, I only care about taking it out." The first voice shouted back.

"Sir, I'm detecting other life forms close by. Four of them. Looks like two humans and two unknown."

"Do the humans match any of our missing men?"

"No, sir."

"Then kill them." Kari's eyes widened as she heard those words. She now had a much better idea of why the little boy was scared. These humans were ready to kill without asking a single question.

"_We need to get out of here."_ The Doctor told her, looking at her with worry. She simply nodded at him. They would have to rethink their rescue plan, find another way to get through the building to find the boy without getting themselves killed.

"_Well we can't go out there while they are shooting bullets everywhere."_ Kari retorted, glaring at him a little. _"Let them chase off that… thing… first." _

"Okay, so what's the plan? One of you have a plan, right?" Amy asked, slightly panicking as she looked between the Doctor and Kari.

"Sort of a plan." The Doctor whispered.

Kari rolled her eyes. "Not much of a plan at all, more like a thing. A thing that needs some serious work." Amy didn't find that very reassuring at all. "Now hush." She said, watching the Doctor as he listened for movement out in the corridor.

After a few minutes he finally decided that the coast was clear. "Okay, it should be safe now. We need to get back to the TARDIS. I can scan the planet, find out exactly what is going on here." He told everyone, opening the door. He peeked around the corridor, just making sure that the coast was clear. "Come on." He held his hand out for Kari, encouraging her and the others to join him.

Something was making Kari feel really on edge, something just didn't seem right. As she reached out to take the Doctor's hand, something grabbed her around the waist. She let out a scream as her hands tried desperately to reach the Doctor.

"Kari!" He shouted, trying to reach out for her. Before he had a chance to touch her hand, he was blinded by a flash of light. "Kari!" He screamed, no longer able to hear her cries for him. When his eyes managed to focus he saw that she was no longer in front of him.

"Doctor, what happened, where's Kari?" Amy asked, looking around the empty and dusty corridor they were standing in.

"I… I don't know. She was right here. Someone took her." He couldn't believe he had let someone take her. After everything that had happened to her, or would happen to her, he had promised himself he would make sure nothing ever happened to her. But he had let someone take her, and he had no idea where she was.

"Right, we need to get out of here and get back to the TARDIS." Amy said, taking charge. She knew that the Doctor was going to get a little emotional, and he was only going to focus on Kari. She needed to take charge if they were ever going to get her back and get off the planet alive.

"Yes, TARDIS, right. She can track Kari down, take us straight to her. Come on, we need to hurry." He took off in a rush, desperate to get back to the TARDIS, desperate to get Kari back.

While her friends were heading back to the TARDIS, Kari's eyes fluttered open. "Stupid bloody transmats." She mumbled.

"Short range teleport, actually." A smug female voice said to her. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Kari looked for the owner of the voice, and was faced with a gun. "Always gun, every single time." She moaned, not happy with having a gun pointing at her face.

"I order you to answer."

She let out a sigh. "I'm Kari, and I don't respond well to having a gun pointed at me."

The gun stayed firmly where it was, the handler not even moving a muscle. "What is your business here?"

"Holiday. Well, it was meant to be. We get here, find the place looking like a war zone, and have no idea what has happened. Honesty, I wish I had stayed in bed this morning." Kari said, hoping that she was giving a good cover up.

"How can you not know? Where have you been living? Under a rock?" The person scoffed.

"No, I've been living in a box, actually. Look, do you mind not pointing the damn gun at me? I don't know what has happened here, all I know is that you have basically kidnapped me." Kari said, glaring at the woman who had dirty blond hair that was pulled into a bun.

"The boss will want to talk to you. Until then, let me make you feel more comfortable." The woman said, before grabbing Kari by the arm and dragging her down some stone steps.

As the descended, Kari could have sworn she could hear someone crying and sniffing in the dark. "Enjoy your holiday." The woman spat to Kari, before pushing her down the final few steps, making her land on her hands and knees.

She let out a groan as she pushed herself up off the cold ground. Her hands were stinging and she could feel blood dripping down her knees. Kari was starting to regret wearing a dress for the day now.

Her hands dug deep into her pockets as she felt around for some tissue or a cloth, something to stop the bleeding. She let out a sigh as she finally found something, and quickly cleaned up the sticky liquid before watching as the bleeding rapidly stopped.

She took a moment to look around, her eyes finally adjusting to the darkness. That was when she heard something, shuffling in the shadows. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver, intending to use to help her see, only it wouldn't work.

"It won't work down here." A meek voice called out to her.

She frowned a little. "And why is that?"

"They're clever, those humans. They block technology, the stop things from working." Suddenly Kari recognised the voice.

"You're the one who called for help?" She asked, edging a little closer to the dark figure. "I heard you, in my mind." Kari didn't want to scare the boy, she knew that he was petrified already.

He slowly crept forward, and out into the open area before Kari. "It's you, you came." He whispered to her.

"I told you I would come, didn't I?" She said, bending down a little and getting to his eye level. "Hello, I'm Kari. What's your name?"

"Kalerrah." He said, watching Kari closely. That was when she noticed something odd about the boy. He looked human, but there was something about his huge, green eyes that made Kari think there was something more to him.

"Well, it is very nice to meet you Kalerrah." She said, holding her hand out. He looked at it cautiously before smiling at her and shaking it. "Now then, Kalerrah, I need you to tell me what happened here. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. I saw the destruction outside, the forest was just burned to a cinder."

"It was the humans. They started it all, they made the war. They killed my mother, my father and my baby sister." He told her. As he did, she could see the tears building in his eyes. "I hate humans. Humans ruin everything. Humans make war, humans kill, humans care only for themselves."

"Hey, come on, that's not true. Some of my best friends are humans." Kari said, making him stare at her with wide eyes. "I know how horrible, and scary and terrifying humans can be, but they can be good as well. A handful of humans do not represent the whole of humanity."

"You've seen good and bad humans." He said, making a statement not asking a question. "You used to be human, but not anymore."

This time it was her turn to look at him with wide eyes. "How did you know that?" She asked in a whisper. Not many people knew that about her, half the time even the Doctor didn't believe her.

"You're the Angel of Time, flying through the time vortex." He told her, his eyes glazing over slightly. "The Angle of Time, protecting the universe and saving the Oncoming Storm."

Kari had to admit, she was a little freaked out. "Kalerrah, why do you call me the Angel of Time?" She asked him quietly, worried about the way he was acting and even more concerned with the way his eyes were glazed over still.

"Because that is what you are, Karianne Conner. You are the Angel of Time, the protected of the universe, the saviour of the Oncoming Storm. The universe knows your name, it has been etched in the fabric of reality since the beginning of time." He told her. "You are the protector and saviour, the Angel of Time." He said quietly, before closing his eyes and falling to the ground.

Kari was quickly to put her arms out to catch him before he actually hit the cold, stone floor they were both on. Her mind was racing, trying to make sense of everything that he had said. She knew who he was talking about when he spoke of the Oncoming Storm, he was talking about the Doctor.

Yet she was still curious as to why she had been named the Angel of Time. That was something she had never been called before. She was just confused, he knew her name, that she had once been human, that she travelled with the Doctor.

"_Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?" _She called, just hoping that he could hear her. She had no idea where he was, or if he was safe with Amy and Rory. All she remembered was something grabbing her from nowhere and then a blinding flash of light. _"Doctor?" _She called again, putting more effort into it.

Her attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere when she heard a large metal door swing open. Light flooded in from the top of the stairs and a dark haired man in what looked like a military uniform stomped down and towards her. He was flanked by two men, both carrying some rather large guns.

"I see you've met our other, more valuable, prisoner." He said, looking at Kari holding onto the young boy.

"What do you want from me? Clear he is valuable and I'm not. So why don't you just kill me now?" Kari asked, trying her best to sound brave.

"I want to ask you a few questions first. Beginning with, who the hell are you?" He growled, clearly not bothered about being polite.

"As I told one of your soldiers before, my name is Kari. And to answer your next question, we came her for a holiday, only we had no idea what was happening on this planet." She said, keeping a firm hold of Kalerrah.

"And where are you from? You're not human, you have a binary vascular system." He asked, looking down at the device he was holding.

"I'm from…" She had to quickly think, she didn't want to tell them who she really was, she had to come up with something else. "I'm from Apalapachia." Kari told him confidently. Inside she was congratulating herself for coming up with something so fast. She knew there weren't many species out there that she could pass for, especially if they already knew that she wasn't human.

"We have no quarrels with your people." The man told her, but not making a move from where he was standing.

"Then why am I still here?" She asked him curiously. She knew it wasn't going to be simple, it never was.

He just smirked at her. "You were seen with 2 humans and another unknown. They escaped our grasp. You, my dear, are our bargaining chip. If they want you back, they have to do what I want."

Kari let out a sigh. "It always comes down to that, doesn't it? Blackmail, cheating, war. What can you gain from something. It's always the same."

"You and that child are our guarantee to win this war." He said, turning away from her and walking back up the stairs.

"Why?" Kari called, making him stop. "Why the war? Why does there have to be a winner and a loser? Why can't you come to a neutral agreement?"

He sneered at her, clearly not impressed with her comment. "The Karleon's started this, and I will finish it."

"So, what's the name of the man who will end this war?"

"Daniel Dupree. Make yourself comfortable, you're going to be here for a while." He called to her, before carrying on up the stairs and leaving the room.

The door slammed with a clang and the light that he been flittering into the room was now gone, and Kari was left once again in darkness. It took a few minutes for her eyes to readjust to the light levels, but when they finally did, she saw that Kalerrah was looking at her.

"Hey, you okay there?" She asked him softly.

"The humans scare me." He whispered. "They want to kill me."

"Kalerrah, that is not going to happen, do you hear me. I will not let them hurt you." She assured him, making sure to keep eye contact with him. "My friends are still out there, I hope. It won't be long until they find us."

"But some of your friends are human, do you trust them?" It was clear he wasn't as confident as she was.

"I trust all of my friends with my life. They are not like the humans that you have seen here." Kari assured him. "Now listen to me, I need you to tell me everything. Why did the humans come here in the first place, what actually happened?"

"Several moons ago, there was something in the sky." He told her, letting her continued to hold him. "It was tiny, at first, and we thought nothing of it. Many ships pass by our home, sometimes they come and visit us, but mainly we are left in peace. But this thing in the sky, it wasn't like any ship that we had seen before."

"So what did it look like, Kalerrah?" Kari asked, trying her best to encourage him to tell the story.

"It was the size of… of a…" He looked at her as he tried to explain and describe it to her. "I show you." He said, before closing his eyes. Instantly Kari understood what he meant and she too closed her eyes.

She saw a metal object in the sky, slightly bigger than a car and hurtling down extremely fast. There were no designs or colour on it, just the dull silver of the metal. It didn't seem like it was just falling, it looked like it had a set path. There was something about it that just didn't seem right.

"What happened after it fell?" Kari asked, finally opening her eyes at the images faded.

"The elders went to investigate. They were worried, everyone was worried. We thought someone had been hurt." He told her, a little slip of emotion breaking through in his voice. "They came back, they were fighting. The elders started fighting with everyone. Others went to see the metal, when they came back, they fight too."

Kari frowned a little. "Wait, everyone who went to check out this fallen objected came back and started fighting?" The little boy nodded at her.

"We became afraid, Karleon's decided to leave it alone, but other were curious. They couldn't resist, and they went too. Then the humans came. They tell us that the balance has been disturbed, that we were making the universe angry."

"From what I know, Karleon's are very peaceful. Someone told me you were one of the most magnificent and peaceful creatures this side of the galaxy." Kari said, remembering the Doctor's words when they had first arrived and were making their way towards the glass dome.

"We are. Humans didn't understand, not everyone was bad, not everyone was fighting. But they didn't listen to us. They decided that we were too much of a threat, that we needed to die." Now the tears that had build in his big green eyes were falling.

"Shush, Kalerrah, it's okay. I'm not going to let them kill anyone else, I promise you. I'm going to make sure this war stops, and I'm going to find out exactly what it was that caused your elders and all the others to start fighting." Kari promised him.

"If the Angle of Time promises, I believe her." He said, letting a smile creep onto his face.

"Good, now the first thing we need to do is get out of this room. This is pretty useless until we get out." She said, holding her sonic screwdriver in her hand.

"What about your friends? Can you not send them a mental message?" Kaleraah asked her, frowning a little.

"I've tried. I don't think he can hear me, he couldn't hear you. But I'll try again." She said, seeing the worry on his face. _"Doctor? Hello?"_ Kari called, hoping that he would answer her. _"Come on, Doctor, I need you."_ She waited, but still received no reply. "Nothing." She told the boy, letting out a sigh. "Looks like we're on our own."

Kalerrah just smiled at her. "I'm not worried. You're the Angel of Time, I know you will get us out of here."

She couldn't help but smile back at him. "I'm glad you have so much faith in me." The pair of them sat in silence for a few minutes, Kari thinking as hard as she could, trying to come up with a plan. If the Doctor could save the day with no screwdriver, no TARDIS and still have a few minutes to spare, then she should be able to come up with something.

"How often do the humans come down here?" Kari asked after a while.

Kalerrah shrugged at her. "Usually once a day. They bring food, nothing else. They don't talk, just glare at me."

Kari nodded at him. "How long do you think until they come down again?"

Once again he just shrugged at her. "I never know." He said, before looking at her. Kalerrah saw a glint of something in her eyes. "You have a plan?" Kari nodded at him. "I knew you would. What do we do?"

"We wait. When the time comes, just follow my lead. Do what I say, and don't wander off. Okay, Kalerrah?" He nodded at her, a smile on his face.

Kari was full of determination. The Doctor wasn't here to bail her out, there was no plan coming from him, no thing in progress. She had her own plan, and a child to protect and she was damned if she was going to let these humans hurt anyone else. They hadn't been bothered to find out what had really happened, they weren't concerned about the truth. All they wanted to do was take out the Kaleon's and be done with it all.

There was another way, and Kari was going to make sure that they saw that as well.

* * *

**A/N: I started writing this chapter when I was in the hospital, so I have the whole adventure pretty much planned out and ready to go. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that I'm ready to pull out. **

**As always, you guys are awesome. Thank you for your lovely reviews and for everyone who has favourited and followed. **

**Next chapter should be up soon. Remember to let me know what you guys think. **

**Pippa.**


	33. The Angel of Time Pt2

The Doctor was frustrated, and worried. He had no idea where Kari was, and no matter how much he called out for her in his mind, he just couldn't find her. Her scream was still ringing in his ears, and he knew she had been scared. His Kari didn't scare very easily, but her scream was just tearing him apart. The way she had cried out his name just made his hearts break.

"Doctor?" Amy called, trying to get his attention. "Doctor!" She shouted, finally getting him to stop and look at her. "I know you're worried about Kari, bit I'm sure she is fine. She's Kari."

"Amy, when have you ever heard Kari scream?" He asked her seriously. "She was scared, Amy. I've seen her worried before, we've been in situations where I didn't think we would get out of it alive and she never once screamed like that."

"So what's the plan then, Doctor?" Amy asked. She really did understand that the situation was serious, but she also knew that Kari was able to look after herself.

"If we get to the TARDIS, I'm hoping that she can track Kari down, and we can go in there and get her out." The Doctor told her without hesitation. His main priority was getting her out, and nothing else.

"But what about that… thing?" Rory asked, finally joining in the conversation. "What was that?"

The Time Lord let out a sigh as he looked at his friends. "I think that was a Karleon. But something was wrong, I don't understand why it was attacking the humans."

"You and Kari said this was like a battle field. So the Karleon's and humans have been fighting. But why? You said they were peaceful." Rory pointed out as they stood in the charred forest.

"They were peaceful. I don't understand it at all." The Doctor told him, running a hand through his floppy hair. He was getting stressed now, and he always ran his hand through his hair when he was getting stressed.

"We are peaceful." A voice grated through the shadows. "We did not start this war." The Doctor looked around sharply, trying to find the source of the voice. "You should leave, while you still can."

"I'm not going anywhere until I have my friend back." The Doctor spat into the darkness. He was not happy about being told what to do, or that anyone was suggesting he should just abandon Kari and leave her there.

"You won't see her again. The humans will make sure of that." The voice called once again to the trio. It didn't sound menacing, but more tired and worn out, as if the owner had resigned themself to no longer care.

"No. I will not just leave her here." He shouted. "I'm the Doctor, and I will get her back."

"The Doctor?" The voice called, wavering slightly. "You're the Doctor?"

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked, a little intrigued as to how they knew who he was.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a man, and he looked human in his ragged brown trousers and torn white shirt, but his eyes were larger and such an icy cold blue. "I am Lagerra, an elder of the Karleon." He told them. "And you are the Doctor, the time traveller."

"How do you know who I am?"

The man just looked at him, his large blue eyes looking old and weary. "Come. It is not safe to talk out here in the open. If you are the Doctor, there may still be hope."

The Doctor just nodded and started following the man through the destroyed forest. Amy and Rory just followed behind, not understanding what was going on. "Doctor, who is he? Where are we going?" Amy finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

"He is an elder of the Karleon's, and he knows who I am. Now, a lot of people know who I am, and they either run, or ask for help. I have a feeling he wants to ask for help." The Doctor whispered to her and Rory as they walked.

"So, do you trust him then?" Rory wondered. "I mean, we really have no idea what is going on or who took Kari."

"I mean you no harm." Lagerra called back to them. "All I want is for my race to be able to live in peace once more. You have seen what has happened to our home. This is not what we want."

"What did happen, Lagerra?" The Doctor asked, noticing they were reaching an area that seemed more green than anywhere else.

"I shall explain in time. We must first get out of sight. The humans are still trying to hunt us down." The trio continued to follow the man, reaching the edge of a river.

They followed it upstream, until they came to a gigantic waterfall. The man just walked straight through t and disappeared. The Doctor didn't hesitate to walk through, while Amy grasped Rory's hand tightly, giving him a weary look before they too step through the waterfall.

What they saw was astonishing. They were in a cave, crowded by people. They all had the same large eyes as Lagerra, and their clothes were tattered and torn as well. All eyes were on the strangers as they walked through the cave, and the younger ones ran to hide behind the adults.

The pair of humans looked around worried, it was clear to see that they were frightened of them, and they understood why. Both of them gave weak smiles as they pasted, in hopes of reassuring them that they meant no harm to them.

They eventually came to an alcove, with a red blanket draped over the opening. Lagerra held the tattered material back and let the Doctor, Amy and Rory step through before following them. Inside they saw nothing but makeshift furniture, made from what they could salvage from the destruction.

"What happen, Lagerra?" The Doctor asked, sitting down on one of the tree trunks that acted as a stool.

"As you know, Doctor, we are a peaceful race. We live in the forests and welcome all to our home. Many others have travelled to see us, sharing their knowledge and us sharing ours. We have made many friends over the millennia's, true allies who will do us no harm." He told the Doctor, as Amy and Rory found somewhere to sit and listen to his tale as well.

"But something happened, many, many moons ago now. An object fell from the sky, burning brightly in the light above us. We believed it to be a ship, crash landing here." Lagerra had full attention of the time travellers now. "Some of the elders were sent to investigate, and help if they could. Only that was when things began to turn nasty."

The Doctor frowned at him. "What do you mean, nasty?"

Lagerra let out a sigh. "The elders that went to investigate the crash came back changed. They were no longer themselves. They had been filled with violence and the need for blood. Those who went to the crash began fighting amongst themselves, fighting to the death."

"But that in its self is wrong." The Doctor said, looking even more confused. "Karleon's hate death. There is no way one of your elders should have decided to have a fight to the death, to kill someone. It's against your beliefs."

Lagerra just nodded. "You are correct, Doctor. We believe in respecting all life. This is why we hide in the caves. We avoid the humans. We do not want to hurt them, to kill them, but they come with such force and want to kill us."

"So, something crashed here, and everyone who went to investigate it when it crashed went a little whacko?" Amy asked, trying to get everything straight in her head.

The man nodded at her. "And then the others as well. Anyone who went near the crashed objected came back changed. In the end, a decision was made to leave it alone, no one was to go near it and those who had changed… we have our own kind locked away." It was clear from the tone of his voice that he was ashamed to have imprisoned his own race while they were being attacked by humans.

The Doctor seemed to sense this as well. "It's not your fault, Lagerra. If you left them to run around out there, think of how much more damage they could do?" He said, trying to reassure him that he done the right thing. "Now tell me, why did the humans arrive?"

"The humans were scared. They had been monitoring our behaviour from their ships in the sky for some time. We thought they were just observing us, watching how we lived. Things had always been peaceful between us." He told them. "A few would come down, bringing gifts, and we would welcome them. But after the fighting started, they stopped coming."

"Well, I can understand that really. Your own people turning against you, they were scared and so they ran. That's what humans tend to do." The Doctor said, getting a slight glare from Amy.

"We thought nothing of it, just that they had gone home. Until a ship showed up, humans with metal weapons approached us. They told us we were getting out of hand, that we were a threat and they we needed to be controlled." Amy and Rory' mouths just dropped open at the new piece of information. At that moment, they were ashamed to say that they were human.

"So, they saw you fighting between yourselves and got scared. Then they send in the armed forces to wipe out the threat." The Doctor said, getting up from where he was sitting and pacing around the small room slightly. "But obviously, you're peaceful, you don't want to fight. So those of you who haven't been altered by… whatever it was, ran and hid." The Doctor concluded.

Lagerra simply nodded at the Doctor. "Not everyone has made it. My sister, brother, and their children have all been killed by the humans." He told them sadly. "Everyone here has lost someone to the humans.

"And were they fighting?" Rory suddenly asked. "Your sister and her family? Had they been affected when the humans…" He wasn't quite sure he wanted to finish that sentence. It was clear that the man was distressed enough as it was, talking about his dead family certainly wasn't going to help.

The man shook his head. "No. The humans didn't care who they took. My sister and brother were protecting their children, that was why they were killed, for protecting their family."

"I'm sorry." The blonde haired human said, hanging his head a little. He had no idea what these people were going through, but he was disgusted to be human after hearing what they had done.

"We have tried to reason with them, to tell them what happened. But they refuse. They are ready to kill us all. There are caves like this all over our home, full of scared Karleon's and children who believe they will never see the sun again."

"Right." The Doctor said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "First, I'm going to need to see this thing that crash landed here. Until I know exactly what it is, I can't tell you what made all your people change and fight." He said, his mind working over time. He still hadn't heard from Kari, and it was worrying him. But he knew he needed to do something, he couldn't just sit there and twiddle his thumbs.

"Uh, Doctor, is that really going to be such a good idea? I mean, what if the same thing that happened to them, happens to you?" Rory asked, as always trying to be the voice of reason.

"Sonic screwdriver." He said, tossing it in the air before catching it. "I can scan it from a distance, I don't need to get up close and personal with it, Rory."

"Okay, so we're going to find out what the thing was that crashed and then what? Because we still have to get Kari back." Amy pointed out. Although she was trying her hardest not to worry, and to convince herself that she would be fine, she was filled with fear over her friend. What the Doctor had said about her screaming had really sunk in, and she had never heard her scream in such a panic before.

"Yes. Sort of. I'm still working out the kinks. But we find out what happened, tell the humans, get them to leave, and get Kari back. Easy." The Doctor said, trying to sound confident.

"This friend you speak of, this… Kari. Describe her to me." Lagerra asked, looking between the trio before him.

The Doctor was only too happy to comply. "Well, she looks human enough but isn't. She's a Time Lord, well Time Lady. Long golden hair, gold eyes that glow when she lets her temper flare. Not exactly tall, but not short either. She's funny, snarky, witty, annoying, caring, beautiful…"

That was when Amy cleared her throat and leaned a little closer to the Doctor. "Yeah, okay, Doctor. I think he has a good idea of what she looks like now." She whispered to him.

The Doctor turned and looked at her, blushing slightly when he realised he had just been about to ramble on about Kari. Lagerra just smiled. "Doctor, you are known to many races and many planets. To some, Doctor means Warrior, while to others it is Healer. Here you are known as the Healer." The Karleon told him. "But you are never alone, Doctor. There is another who travels with you, the woman of time. Just like you, she has many names, but she is known to us as the Angel of Time."

The Doctor and the others all looked at him in utter confusion. "The Angel of Time?" The Doctor questioned.

Lagerra nodded. "Do not worry about your friend, Doctor, she will be safe. There are legends of the Oncoming Storm and the Angel of Time, legends that have been there since the dawn of time."

"What legends?" The Doctor asked. He had no idea what was going on, but he was damn sure going to find out.

Lagerra just looked at him. "It is still too early, you are yet to discover the truth. The Angel of Time has many secrets, her biggest secret is known by none and shall never be discovered. Even those who created her are lost."

"Hang on, are you saying that Kari is this… Angel of Time?" Amy butted in and asked.

"She is the woman with the golden hair and eyes?" He asked, getting Amy to nod in response. "She flies through the time vortex, through the whole of time and space. And always returning to the Doctor?" Once again, she nodded at him. "She is the Angel of Time."

"But what about these secrets? What's all this about it being too early?" The Doctor asked him. He didn't like it when someone knew more than he did, and even more so when it concerned Kari.

The man just shook his head. "I cannot tell you, Doctor, for it is not my place. But know this, the Angel of Time has been mentioned throughout the whole of time, she will be safe." He said, trying to give them all a littler more reassurance that Kari really would be fine.

The Doctor thought on his words for a few moments, before clearing it all from his head. It was something he could deal with and ask questions about another time. Right now, they needed to find the source of all this chaos before things got worse, and even with all the reassurance that Kari was fine and safe, he wanted to get her back before something terrible happened to her.

"Lagerra, do you think you would be able to show us where this object landed? I understand if you don't, but I won't be able to help unless I find out exactly what it is." The Doctor told him, hoping that he wouldn't be too scared to go out there and find it with him.

"I can show you." The man said, a solemn look on his face. "I only hope that you can help us, Doctor. So many have already been lost because of this, we now just live our lives in fear."

"Great, let's go." The Doctor said, a smile on his face.

As they walked back through the caves, people still glanced over at them, but the children didn't seem to be hiding as much this time. Instead, they looked more intrigued than anything else. Amy and Rory smiled at the as best they could as they passed, and a few of the youngsters waved at them, to the annoyance of the adult they were with.

"I never asked, what brought you to our home in the first place, Doctor?" Lagerra asked as they walked back under the waterfall and deeper into the forest.

"It was Kari. She got a message, a child crying out for help. She was the one that brought us here." The Doctor told him, remembering how determined she had been when she had heard the child calling for help.

Lagerra looked at him and frowned as they walked. "A child? And where were you at the time?"

"We were in the time vortex." The Doctor told him, replaying how she charged into the console room and started taking control of everything. "She heard a child calling in her mind, she followed it and we ended up here. We followed the trail of destruction to that building, the dome shaped one."

"That was once our royal family's home. They tried to defend us, but the humans took it for themselves." Lagerra told them. "But there was none of us left in there. They royal family were amongst the first killed." There was definitely a hint of sadness in his voice as he spoke.

"Is it possible they took one of the children?" Amy asked, her hand holding that of Rory's. They had both been staying rather quite, thinking over what had happened and how they could get Kari back.

"Yes, I suppose. But from what I know, none of the children are missing. Unless the child is one we have presumed to have died." Lagerra told her, thinking about her question. "It is impossible to say, but if the child sent a message to your friend, and it reached her through all of time a space, then…" That was when something dawned on him. "No, that cannot be." He mumbled.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rory asked, noticing the sudden change in the man.

"There are very few young who are able to communicate like that, it takes skill and much effort. I will not say who the child may be, for if it is not, I do not think I would survive the disappointment." The man admitted. "Come, we are getting closer to the crash site. I warn you now not to get too close."

The trio nodded and carried on walking, until Lagerra stopped. "Just beyond those trees, lies the metal pod that crashed in our land. I will go no further than this, I suggest you take much caution."

"Amy, Rory, stay here with Lagerra." The Doctor told them firmly. "We have no idea what it is, and unless I tell you, you stay right here. Is that understood?"

Amy looked at him, seeing the seriousness in his face. "Okay. Be careful, Doctor. Don't you get too close either, okay?" She told him, straightening his jacket for him.

"Will do, Pond. Now, stay here." He said, to them, before heading forward and past the trees.

"Amy, you're worried aren't you?" Rory said, noticing the way she was nervously playing with her hands. "I'm sure everything will be fine. He's the Doctor."

"It's not him I'm worried about." Amy finally admitted. "The Doctor was right, Kari has never screamed like that before. She really was scared."

"You're friend will be safe." Lagerra told the pair. "She is a lot stronger than even she knows. The Angel of Time has much to do, and many still to protect. She still has a long journey ahead of her."

"And you're sure this is Kari?" Rory asked, looking at the man. "The same Kari?"

Lagerra smiled at him. "There is only one Angel of Time, and there is only one Doctor. Where one is, you will surely find the other. Yes, I am sure."

While the trio stayed at a safe distance, the Doctor was cautiously walking forward with his screwdriver held out in front of him. The end was lit green and it was making the familiar whirring sound.

The pitch on the screwdriver changed, the closer he came to the metal pod that was half buried in the dirt, the higher it sounded. "Interesting." He mumbled, edging closer and closer to it. The Doctor stopped in front of it and looked down at his screwdriver. "Oh… that's not good." He scanned the air in front of him, and green dust like particles became visible in the glow of his screwdriver.

He changed the setting and turned his screwdriver on once more, making the cloud of particles disappear. "This was no accident." He mumbled to himself, before heading back to where he had left Amy, Rory and Lagerra.

Amy and Rory quickly looked up when they saw their Time Lord friend heading back towards them. "Well? What is it?" Amy asked, noticing the frown on his face.

"Lagerra, you said you had some of those that had been affected? I need to see them." He said, ignoring Amy's question.

"I am not sure that is wise, Doctor. They are very violent, they care for no one but themselves." The man told him with worry. He had seen how vicious those how had been affected had turned, and he wanted to keep people safe from them.

"It's not their fault." The Doctor told him simply. "None of this is your peoples fault. I need to see them."

"Doctor? What did you find?" Amy asked once more, hoping that he would actually answer her this time.

He let out a sigh and tucked his sonic screwdriver in the inside pocket of his tweed jacket. "This was deliberate. The canister contained a nanovirus, specifically designed and created to affect Karleon's and Karleon's only." The Doctor told them, a grim look on his face. "Someone wanted this to happen, it wasn't a crash landing, it was all planned."

The trio looked at him in shock. "But who would want to do that?" Rory asked. "Why start a war?"

"That's what I plan on finding out."

"Doctor…" Lagerra was more shocked than the others. There was someone out there who had planned to start a war, who wanted his race to be at war with others. Someone was out there trying to destroy their lives. "This nanovirus, how do we stop it?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Lagerra." The Doctor told him. "I've already stopped it, shut it down and killed it. Now, I'm hoping, that I can reverse the affects it has had on the others, turn them back to normal."

"You can do that?" Amy asked him, clearly a little surprised.

He smiled at her. "I'm the Doctor, I can do anything."

Lagerra nodded at him. "Come with me. I will take you to the cave where we have kept the turned ones. You must forgive us for the way they have been held. It was for the safety of them and everyone else. I am not proud that we have restrained them, but we felt it necessary."

The Doctor placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "You're looking after you people, you want to stop this madness and stop anyone else from getting hurt. You haven't let the humans kill them, and you've kept them safe." He told him.

"But I have still failed others. We have lost many good friends and family since this has begun. Our world has been torn apart and it will take time for this wound to heal." Lagerra told him, looking at them sadly. "We must move swiftly. We never know where the humans are, and we do not want them to find us."

The Doctor nodded at him and the four of them began walking once more through the forest. The walk began in silence, the Doctor thinking over everything that had happened. He was still worried about Kari, still not having heard anything from her. The Doctor had been trying, but he couldn't even sense her at all, and that worried him more than anything. All he could do was hope that she really was safe and that nothing terrible had happened to her. He just wanted to get her back, safe and sound.

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**A/N: Hey guys, so here is the second part of the story. Yes, there will be a third, still trying to determine if that will be the last, or if there will be a fourth. It really does depend on how much I fit into one chapter. **

**Either way, I hope you are all enjoying it. A massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Your reviews really do make me smile, and even do a little happy dance. So please, keep reviewing and tell me what you think of this chapter. **

**Next chapter should be up soon. Fingers crossed. And I will still be updating when I am in Holland, aren't you all lucky. **

**Pippa. **


	34. The Angel of Time Pt3

**A/N: Okay, I have to be honest, I thought I had actually posted this last week, and realised that I hadn't when I went to post the next chapter yesterday. I'm so sorry guys! **

* * *

Kari was sitting on the cold stone floor, Kalerrah wrapped tightly in her arms. They had been sitting there for hours, waiting for the humans to come and see to them. The child had fallen asleep some time ago, and Kari just didn't want to let him go. She could see just how frightened he was of everything and he had every right to be.

He had seen those humans kill his parents and his sister, and he should have been next. She still didn't understand why he was so important, why that one child could win them a war that never should have happened in the first place.

After a little while he started to stir, mumbling and becoming a little restless. "Hey, you're okay, Kalerrah, everything will be okay." She whispered to him, holding him a little tighter.

"Have they come?" The little boy asked her.

Kari gave him a sad smile. "Not yet. Looks like we may need a change of tactic. We're going to have to get their attention. But you know what to do, yeah?" Kalerrah nodded at her. "Okay, so we stick to the plan, yeah?"

They waited for a little while longer, just in case they were going to come, but they didn't. "Time to get this show on the road." Kari whispered to him, before charging up the stone steps and banging on the door at the top.

Kari took a deep breath before she started shouting. "Help! Someone help!" She cried. "Please, the little boy… he won't wake up. Please, you have to help!" Kari carried on banging on the door as hard as she could, making sure to keep herself in a panicked state.

A moment later the door flew open and one of the guards stood there, gun in hand and looked at Kari. "Please, the little boy, he won't wake up. I tried, I don't know what to do anymore, he just won't wake up." Kari cried, before running down the steps and to where Kalerrah was lying on the cold ground. "Please, you have to help."

The guard just looked at her. "What do you mean, he won't wake up?"

"I can't wake him up. He fell asleep a few hours ago. I… I don't think he's breathing." Kari said, a few tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You have to help him." She said, grabbing onto his arm and giving him her most desperate and hopeless look.

So far everything was going to plan. The guard looked down at where Kalerrah was lying, completely still. "Oi, kid? Wake up." The Guard said, nudging him with his foot. "Kid?"

"You have to do something." Kari told him, preparing herself for her next move. They really only had one shot at this, and if it went wrong, well they would just have to do what the Doctor usually done, make it up as they go along.

As Kari suspected, he put his gun down on the ground, without really thinking about it, to check the boy over. "Come on kid, you need to wake up now. The boss is not going to be happy if you die now."

"He… he can't be dead." Kari said, putting a hand over her mouth and taking a step back. The guard got down closer to Kalerrah, trying to determine if he was breathing or not. While the guard was distracted, she carefully bent down, and as quietly as she could, she wrapped her fingers around the large gun.

To say she was nervous was an understatement, she was holding and gun and about to threaten someone with it. The day really wasn't turning out how she had hoped it would. She slowly moved forward and pushed the gun into the man's back. "Okay, play time is over." Kari said, trying to sound menacing.

The guard let out a sigh. "You tricked me. There's nothing wrong with him, is there?"

"Nope. Now, I'd like your radio as well as the keys please." She said, just as Kalerrah opened his eyes. She watched as the man slowly reached for his radio, unclipping it from his uniform and dropping it on the ground before tossing the keys down as well. "Thank you for your cooperation." Kari said, as the young boy picked them both up.

"You won't get far. The moment they see you, they will shoot you. You haven't got a chance out there." The guard told her.

"I think we'll risk it. It has to be better than being locked up in here. And beside, I have a secret weapon." Kari told him, letting a grin stretch across her face. "Come on, Kalerrah, let's get out of here." She said, holding her hand out for him to take.

As soon as he was holding it, the pair of them ran up the stairs and to the door, which the guard had stupidly left open. Kari carefully poked her head out, hoping that there were no more guards around. "Stay behind me at all times, and do not let go of my hand for anything in the universe, okay?" Kalerrah nodded at her. "Great. I just hope this is going to work now that we are out of that room." She said, pulling out her sonic screwdriver.

Kari pointed it at the radio, and let out a sigh of relief as it finally started working. After rendering the radio completely useless, she chucked it to the ground, having no further need for it. She looked down at the gun in her hand, not really knowing what to do with it. She knew she would never use it, but was she going to need it as some kind of reassurance?

"What's wrong?" Kalerrah asked, noticing that she had just drifted off into her own little world.

"Not a big fan of guns, but I'm not sure if we should take it or not." Kari admitted, looking down at the boy.

He just smiled at her. "We don't need it. I have you and you have me."

Kari couldn't help but smile back at him. "Right, but lets make sure that no one else can use it either, yeah?" She told him, before taking out her screwdriver once more and using it to jam the firing mechanism. "Okay, that should do it. So what do you say, Kalerrah? Shall we get the hell out of here?" She asked him, giving him her best smile.

"Yes please." He replied, beaming away at her. That was all Kari needed to see, and she had to determination to get both of them out of there alive.

The Doctor stood there in front of one of the Karleons that had been affected by the nanovirus. He could tell just by looking at their eyes that something was wrong with them. The eyes of the one he was looking at was all back, and nothing else. There was no colour at all, unlike everyone else, just black.

"This is Melirre, he lost his family when the humans came. He has many reasons to want revenge on the humans that have arrived here." Lagerra told him sadly as he stood to the side.

"The virus wasn't his fault, it manipulated his brain, changed him. It was created to cause pain and suffering to anyone who was infected with it." The Doctor told him, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver. "But once they are deactivated, he should be fine."

"Doctor, are you sure about this?" Amy asked, stepping over to him and trying not to bite her thumb nail any longer. "I mean, what if it doesn't work?"

"I've already programmed my screwdriver, it's on the same frequency I used to disable the nanovirus coming from the canister." The Doctor assured her. "It's perfectly safe."

"Are you sure, Doctor? Have you really thought this through properly?" Amy asked. It was clear that she was worried something was going to go wrong, and that the Doctor wasn't really in the best frame of mind. He was still worrying about Kari, and that meant his mind was fully focused on the problem at hand. "What if it doesn't work?"

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her. "Amy, trust me, it will work."

"I'm sure the Doctor knows what he's doing, Amy." Roy said, stepping up so that he was standing beside her and taking a hold of her hand. "Just let him do his thing."

The Doctor smiled at him a little. "Thanks, Rory. Okay, now this is it." He said, holding up his sonic screwdriver in front of him and at the man with the pure black eyes.

He flicked it on, the end glowed green and the familiar humming and whirring noise filled the room. Melirre just looked at him, his eyes still black and empty. It was starting to freak Amy and Rory out a little, so they both took a step back.

The pitch of the Doctor's screwdriver rose, and the man before him began to growl a little. As the pitch rose some more, so did the growling. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for something to happen. Amy was clasping onto Rory's hand tightly as they both kept their distance from the chained up man.

"You're okay, Melirre. Just relax, everything is going to be just fine." The Doctor said, before his screwdriver let out an ear piercing shrill. The man fell to his knees, screaming in agony. After a few more moments, the Doctor turned his screwdriver off. "Melirre? Are you okay?" The Doctor called, bending down and getting to the man's level.

He lifted his head up and looked at the Doctor. His black eyes were slowly changing, flecks of grey becoming visible more and more. "I don't… What… what happened?" Melirre asked, clutching hold of his head slightly.

"Do you remember what happened, Melirre?" Lagerra asked him softly, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

"I… I know I shouldn't have done it, but I went to see it. I just wanted to look at it, to see what it was. I didn't know what it was." Melirre said, shaking a little. "What happened? Where are my wife and the children?"

Lagerra got down to his level, crouching on the ground so that their eyes met. "I'm sorry. They have gone now." He whispered. Melirre broke down in tears, and let out a roar as Lagerra tried his best to comfort him.

Doctor took that as his chance to step away a little, letting Lagerra explain what had happened. It was a sad sight to see, he had no recollection of what happened after he had been infected, and no clue as to the death of his family.

"Doctor? Did it work?" Amy asked as he came over to where she was standing, still clutching hold of Rory's hand.

He let out a sigh. "Yes, it worked. I can reverse the effects on all of them, but it is going to take too long. I have to go around to every single one of them, and who knows how many there are." The Doctor told her.

"Can't you just… I don't know, put the screwdriver against a microphone and have it connected up to speakers everywhere or something?" Amy asked, trying to be as helpful as she could.

"Amy, this is a very specific sonic frequency. You can't just replicate it though anything, it will distort it." The Doctor told her. "It needs to be perfect for it to work, otherwise… well, I'm not sure what would happen."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Rory wondered. "You know how to cure them all, we just need to find something that can send out that… sound, right?"

"Exactly, but I'd need to send it over the whole of the planet, we don't know if any others fell somewhere else." The Doctor told him, ruffling his hair in frustration. "I need something big, powerful, something that can…" Suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Doctor? Doctor, what is it?" Amy asked, knowing that look. It was the look that he got when he had a plan, and she really hoped he had a plan now.

"Amy, you are brilliant!" He explained, kissing the top of her head. "Rory, you're brilliant as well." Doing the same thing to him. "I can do it, all we need is the TARDIS. She can easily send the signal out across the planet and everyone should go back to normal."

"Well, what are we still standing here for?" Amy asked. "Lets go."

He turned and saw Lagerra and Melirre standing behind them "I know how to stop this, how to kill the virus. But I need to get back to my ship."

"You need your TARDIS?" Lagerra asked, causing the Doctor to nod at him. "Then I shall come with you and show you the way.

"And then, we get Kari." He announced, his voice full of determination. The Doctor didn't care what it took anymore, he was going to save his Kari and end the war.

Kari had herself pushed up against as wall as she cautiously looked around the corner. Kalerrah was still holding onto her hand tightly. He had not once let go and he didn't plan to either. "Okay, it's clear, lets go." She said, before slowly creeping out of their hiding place and down the empty corridor.

They were almost at the end when they began to hear voices and feet pounding on the ground coming their way. Kari's eyes darted around and she spotted a door. After quickly glancing inside to check that it was safe for them, they rushed inside.

"I can't believe he fell for it. It's the oldest trick in the book." Kari heard someone say as they ran past the room they were in.

"I think our absence has been noticed." She told Kalerrah nervously. She had been trying so hard to find a way out, and it was only thanks to the young boy with her that they had managed to get so far.

"We're nearly there now. The end of the corridor, turn left and carry on to the big doors." Kalerrah told her. Somehow he seemed to know every corridor and every room in the building, which had surprised Kari slightly.

"Right, end of corridor, turn left, big doors. Got it." Kari said, getting ready to open the door and check the coast was clear again. "We may have to run, do you think you can manage that, Kalerrah?"

He nodded at her. "I run fast." He said proudly.

"Great. Thanks to the Doctor, I'm always running, so I'm not too bad myself these days." She replied, giving him a smile. "You ready?" He nodded once more and she opened he door a crack. Her eyes quickly swept up and down the corridor, and her ears strained to find any sounds that could be someone approaching. "Come on."

She opened the door some more, and they both rushed out. They started off walking at a hurried pace, which soon turned into a jog. By the time they reached the end of the corridor they were starting to run.

They turned left, as Kalerrah had instructed, and Kari finally recognised where they were. It was the same corridor that she had last walked down with the Doctor and her friends. And then it dawned on her, that was the same room that she had hidden in before with her friends.

"There's the doors." Kalerrah called in excitement, as he spotted the large wooden doors finally coming into sight. "We made it."

"Not yet we haven't." Kari reminded him as they carried on running.

They were almost at the door, just a few yards away from it when a soldier stepped out of nowhere and blocked their path. Kari recognised her in an instant, the same person who had taken her away from the Doctor. The someone that had locked her away.

"Going somewhere?" She asked, holding up her gun.

"Uh, yeah, as it happens. We're going outside." Kari told her, pushing Kalerrah behind her but still keeping a hold of his hand.

"Oh no, I don't think you are. See, I now have orders to shoot on sight. So, guess what's coming next?" The woman asked.

Kari just smirked at her as she pulled her sonic screwdriver up. "I'm guessing that your going to fire your ridiculously oversized gun at me, before dragging Kalerrah back to that damp, dark, cold room."

"You're good at guessing." The soldier replied, keeping her gun aimed.

"Only, there's one slight problem. Well, two actually. Or maybe three, I haven't decided yet." Kari said, feeling rather confident as she fiddled with her sonic in her hand.

"Oh? And what are those then?" It was clear that the woman was not impressed and did not believe a word that Kari was saying to her.

"Well, for a start, there is no way in the whole of time and space that I am going to let you ever touch Kalerrah again." She told the woman. "That's problem number one for you. Problem number two, outside of that room, my handy little device works. Do you know what it is?" She asked, holding up her screwdriver.

"That stupid little thing?" The woman scoffed.

Kari just continued to smirk. "Oh yeah, this little thing, which is not stupid thank you very much. I worked very hard on it. Now, that leads us to problem number three." She said, before turning her screwdriver on for a few seconds and aiming it at the gun. "You can't shoot me, because I just caused your gun to malfunction. So yeah, three problems, and no solution."

"Enough talking." The woman spat, before trying to fire her gun. Only, nothing happened. She aimed it at Kari again and pulled on the trigger, but once more, nothing happened. "What the hell have you done?" She growled, looking down at her now useless gun.

"I told you, it's a simple malfunction. Several of the mechanisms are jammed, well, more like fused together. Now if you don't mind, we'll be going now." Kari said, pulling Kalerrah with her as she went to make her way past the woman.

Except the soldier had other ideas and quickly grabbed hold of Kari's arm. "I don't need a gun to kill you." She hissed, twisting Kari's arm.

"True. But you're still not going to kill me." Kari told her confidently, although she really didn't have a plan, yet.

"And why not?"

Before Kari had a chance to reply, Kalerrah had stepped out from behind her and into the view of the soldier. "Because she's the Angel of Time. You hurt her, the Oncoming Storm be after you. Probably already is." He seemed to have gathered a lot of confidence from somewhere, and Kari was both proud and worried at that fact.

The woman snorted at him. "That's a myth, nothing more. You stupid Karleons believe in such idiotic things. Oh, the Oncoming Storm is after me, I am so scared. You're a liar, you all are. That is nothing but a story, it isn't real."

Kari could see the hurt in the little boys eyes. "Kalerrah, it's okay. Don't listen to her. You can believe in whatever you want." She told him, hoping that he would listen to her.

"But it not a story." He said, turning to look at Kari. "Show her. You the Angel of Time. You can do anything." She couldn't help but notice the little hint of doubt in his voice as he spoke.

Kari smiled at him. "You're right. I am the Angel of Time." She said, before looking at the soldier who was still gripping her wrist tightly. "My name is Karianne Conner, I travel through the whole of time and space. I'm the last Time Lady. I'm in love with the last Time Lord. And I am the Angel of Time."

As she finished speaking, her eyes began to burn brightly, and a golden swarm appeared around her. "Kathleen Abigail Fredrickson, daughter of Helen and James. This isn't the life you wanted. You never wanted to be a soldier, you always wanted to be a teacher. But your parents were killed, so you ended up here." Kari said. "Tell me, Kathleen, was it worth it?"

The woman just stood there and stared at her. "But… how did you…"

"You wanted to teach others, not kill. Was it worth it? Is this the life you want?" Kari asked her once more, still surrounded by the golden mist and her eyes still burning bright.

Kathleen let out a sob before releasing Kari's wrist. "No. It wasn't worth it. 10 years of hell."

Kari just smiled at her. "Then take back those 10 years, Kathleen Abigail Frederickson. I give you those 10 years. Become the teacher that you always wanted to be. Help others to learn." She said, taking hold of the woman's hand. "Take those 10 years and live a better life. If that is what you want?"

Kathleen nodded at her, as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I do. I want to teach, not kill. Please." There was a blinding flash of light, and in an instant Kathleen Abigail Frederickson was gone.

The golden mist around Kari began to fade as her eyes returned to normal. "What happen to her?" Kalerrah asked in awe. He has seen everything, and she had proved to him that she really was the Angel of Time.

She turned and smiled at him. "She's gone back, back to when she made her choice. Now she can have a better life, and help those who need it."

"That was amazing." Kalerrah told her, still seeming pretty shocked and awe struck.

"Well, uh, it was interesting, I'll give you that." Kari told him. "First time I've ever done that. I don't even really know what happened or why." She admitted. She had no idea how she knew the woman's name, or about her parents and her past. All she knew was that she could have a second chance if she wanted it. And Kari somehow gave it to her.

"You the Angel of Time, you can do anything." Kalerrah said, still beaming away at her.

"Do you think I can get us out of here and safely back to the TARDIS?" She asked him, putting on her best 'serious' face.

"Yes."

A grin then took over Kari's face. "I guess we better be going then." She said, before they started making their way to the door again. Once they had reached it, they opened it together, and squinted at the brightness of the light streaming onto them.

"Now I just have to remember the way back through the forest and to the TARDIS." She told him as they stepped outside of the building and began to walk away from it. Except they didn't get very far before Kari dropped to her knees.

"What wrong? You okay?" Kalerrah asked, panic and worry seeping through in his voice.

Kari rubbed her head a little. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little… dizzy." She told him trying to get back up, only to fall straight back down again. "Right, so maybe sending Kathleen back has wiped me of my energy." She admitted. "But we can't stay here, we have to move."

Kalerrah tried to help her to stand, but after a few steps, her legs gave way once more and she ended up down on the ground again. "You're tired. Need to rest." He told her, sitting on the ground beside her.

"I'll be fine in a minute, we really need to keep moving. It won't take them long to come out here and look for us." Kari said. "We need to get a safe distance away."

"You need rest." Kalerrah protested. She had rescued him, saved him and kept him from getting hurt. Now he was worrying about her.

"And I can rest when I know you are going to be safe." She told him, trying to get herself up once more. "Come on, Kalerrah, we have to go."

"But…"

"No arguments, young man. Lets go." She said, holding out her hand for him to take once more. Reluctantly he took it, knowing that fighting with her was not going to do any good.

Kari stumbled for the first few steps, but the boy helped her to stay up. He was surprisingly strong for someone so young, but then again, Kari didn't really know that much about the Karleons to begin with. For all she knew it could have been normal strength to them.

"To get here, we followed the trail of burnt out trees. If we go back that way, we should find the TARDIS." She told him, sounding a little out of breath.

"You not make it that far." Kalerrah whispered to himself. "I carry you."

Kari stopped and looked at him. "No, I can walk. I'm not going to let you carry me, you're just a boy."

He just smiled at her. "Not boy, Karleon." He said, before taking a few steps away from her.

What Kari saw next was something that she would never forget. She watched as his form shifted, growing longer and finishing with a tail. Her eyes widened even more when out from his back came two large, scaly green wings before his arms and legs transformed and claws grew where his nails used to be.

Where the young boy once stood was now a ferocious looking beast. "Kalerrah is Karleon." It growled.

"Oh, my… how the hell…" Kari stuttered, not really knowing what to say. "You're a flipping dragon!" Was all she managed to say, before dropping back down to the ground. Her head was spinning madly, and the sight before her really hadn't helped.

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**A/N: Yes, there probably is spelling and grammar errors, for which I am sorry for. I'm just a tiny bit stressed at the moment. **

**I hope the chapter was worth the wait, the next chapter is all ready to go and I will actually remember to post it. **

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, you guys are awesome. And those who have favourites/followed, a big thanks to you guys as well. **

**Pippa. **


	35. The Angel of Time Pt4

**A/N: Sorry that it has been such a long wait for this chapter. It really has been a hectic and busy 3 weeks, good new is that I am now home! So here it is, the final part of The Angel of Time.**

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The Doctor rushed through the blue doors of the TARDIS, charging straight up to the console, pulling his sonic screwdriver out as he ran. Amy and Rory were right behind him, Lagerra trailing behind the pair. He looked somewhat exhausted, and who could blame him.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Doctor?" Amy asked, watching him twist different things on the console and press several buttons.

"Of course I'm sure, Amy. The TARDIS can send out the signal, causing the nanovirus to completely shut down. Everyone who has been infected will be just fine, maybe a little confused, but fine." He told her as he carried on working.

"And what about Kari?" Rory called to him helping Lagerra sit down on the chair. "We still have no idea where she is."

Suddenly something started bleeping and the Doctor rushed to look at the monitor. A huge grin took over his face. "She's in the forest, both hearts still beating. It looks as if she is on her way here. But there's someone else with her." He said, frowning a little. He didn't recognise the biological make up that the screen was displaying, and it was confusing him.

"Could it be the child?" Amy wondered, going and standing next to him and looking at the screen. She couldn't really make sense of any of the writing, but she understood the two dots on the map perfectly. Kari was alive, and on her way.

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. He supposed it could be possible that it was the child, but he was still trying to work out the readings to understand what it was. "It could be. But never mind that at the moment. I need to send this signal out." He said, before jamming his screwdriver into a slot on the console.

All of them waited, holding their breath. If this didn't work, then the Doctor didn't really know what he would do. And so they carried on waiting, until the screen confirmed that it was being sent out.

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. "Right, that should solve that problem. Now to go and find Kari." He said, before charging out of the doors.

Amy and Rory just looked at each other, before helping Lagerra up. He had been very quiet, and was not looking too good. "Are you okay?" Rory asked as they slowly walked to the door.

"I am afraid this is all too much for me. I am old, and not used to such adventures." He admitted as they stepped outside. "I do not have the same energy as someone as young as you."

Rory just smiled at him. "Trust me, it's hard to keep up with the Doctor sometimes. It takes a lot of getting used to. I haven't actually been with him for that long, so I'm still getting used to it."

"To travel through all of time and space, it must be a wonderful thing."

"It's nice, but no matter where we go we always seem to run into some kind of trouble. There's always someone trying to destroy the universe or something." Rory told him as they followed a little behind Amy and the Doctor.

"Well, that is what happens when you travel with the Doctor and his Angel." Lagerra told him, a small smile working its way onto his face.

"His Angel?" Rory questioned. He had no idea who he was talking about there, the Doctor had never mentioned anything about an Angel.

Lagerra stopped and turned to him. "The one you call Kari, she has many other names. But she is known to us as the Angel of Time. Now come, we must keep up with your friends." He said, before beginning to walk again.

Rory followed him, thinking over what he had just said. He didn't really know that much about Kari, he had met her once when there was the fiasco with Prisoner Zero, and then again when they Doctor crashed his stag party and they went to Venice. He decided he really needed to find out more about her, get to know her better. She seemed like a nice person, and Amy liked her as well.

The Doctor paused and looked around. "She should be here." He mumbled, his eyes scanning everywhere. "Why isn't she here?"

"Uh, Doctor?" Amy called, her eyes fixed on something above them.

The Doctor looked over at her and followed her gaze. "Of course. I am so stupid, how could I forget that." He said, whacking himself on the forehead. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Doctor, what is that?" Rory asked, looking at the green beast that was flying overhead. For some reason it seemed to be circling the area they were standing in.

"That, Rory, is a Karleon." The Doctor told him, a smirk on his face.

"That… that's impossible." Lagerra whispered as he looked as well. "He was… he…"

The Doctor frowned at him as he walked over to the man. "Lagerra, what is it?"

"That Karleon." He said, pointing up at it in the sky. "That's Kalerrah. He's meant to be dead. We saw him get killed along with the rest of his family."

"Well he seems to be doing pretty good for a dead guy." Amy commented.

Lagerra paid no attention to Amy, or anyone else around him as he let out a loud roar, making everyone jump. The beast that had been flying overhead stopped, and looked down at where they were standing. A moment later it was diving down to where they were, making Amy squeal and grab hold of Rory's hand.

The Doctor and Lagerra took a step back, creating more space for it to land. Both Amy and Rory looked on in awe as they realised just what the beast was. "A dragon?" Rory questioned. "He's a dragon?"

"Yeah, tell me about it." A familiar voice mumbled. A second later Kari's head appeared. "Someone mind helping me get down?"

In a flash the Doctor was pulling her from atop the mighty green dragon and wrapping his arms around her. "Kari, I was so worried about you. What happened? How did you get out?" He asked, burying his face into her hair.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Coming up with a plan that involved a lot of running. And flying on the back of a dragon." She mumbled to him, before her legs gave way, causing the Doctor to tighten his hold on her.

"Whoa, careful. Are you okay?" He asked, the concern he had for her flooding his voice.

"A little tired. It's been a long day and I could sure do with a nap right about now." She told him, feeling her head spinning a little. The whole time they had been in the air, she felt like she was going to be sick. She hadn't really been able to enjoy the experience of flying on a dragons back.

"Kari, we need to stop this war. Then I promise you, you can sleep as much as you like." He told her, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

While they had been talking, the green dragon had shifted back into the shape of a young boy with big green eyes. "Kalerrah?" Lagerra questioned, taking a step closer to the boy.

"Uncle?" He asked, looked at the man before him with wide eyes. "Uncle Lagerra!" He cried, before running into the man's arms.

"Oh, Kalerrah, I thought they had killed you as well. Everyone thought you to be dead." The man replied, tears building in his eyes as he hugged the boy tightly.

"They didn't. Humans locked me away. The Angel of Time saved me." He said, glancing over at Kari. The Doctor was still holding onto her tightly, trying to help keep her steady.

"Uh, yeah. Don't mention it." She said, trying to wave the Doctor off a little. "You know, happy to help and what not."

"Kari, what happened?" The Doctor asked her seriously. He still had no idea what had happened

She just looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. "I think that's a story for another time. Didn't you say we had a war to stop or something?" The look the Doctor was giving her told her that he really didn't want to accept her little suggestion to move on. "Seriously, it's nothing to worry about. We have all the time in the universe to talk about it after this." She said, tugging on his arm a little.

He just frowned at her, knowing that pushing her wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Right, time to go and end this." He said, before grasping Kari's hand tightly and beginning the march forward. Straight away she stumbled a little, her other hand grabbing onto his arm to keep herself steady.

"I'm fine, just tired." Kari told him, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "Seriously, I'm okay."

He gave her a sceptical look before forcing himself to smile at her. "We'll talk about this later. A nice cup of tea when we get back to the TARDIS, yeah?" Kari simply nodded at him, feeling even more exhausted now than before.

"So, how exactly are you going to fix all of this then, Doctor?" Amy asked, jogging a little with Rory beside her to catch the pair up.

"Well, I'll talk to them. And then find out exactly who it was that sent the nanovirus and why." There was darkness in his voice as he spoke, which Amy found a little disturbing.

"What do you mean? Nanovirus? Someone want to fill me in on what I've missed, please?" Kari asked, looking around at the group in confusion. She knew that something had landed, and the Karleon's began to get sick and change, but that was about it.

"Something landed here, and it contained a nanovirus. It only affected the Karleon's, and no one else. I managed to cancel it out, shut it off so that those who were affected by it turned back to normal." The Doctor told her.

"And the rest." Kari said, glaring at him. She somehow just knew that there was more to it, that there was something he wasn't telling her. She already knew many of his traits, but since being there with him, she had picked up on so many more that it was getting easier for her to read him.

The Doctor let out a sigh as he looked at her. "It wasn't an accident that it crashed here. It was all planned. I had the TARDIS track back its flight path, it came from a ship that had been orbiting the planet."

Her eyes widened at the realisation of what was truly going on. "Please tell me that it wasn't a human ship that sent it." She whispered, several things now running through her mind. It was the look on the Doctor's face that told her that she was right and that it was a human ship that had been in orbit and sent that thing crashing down to the planet. "I have a pretty good idea of who it was." She admitted, remembering the man that she had met when she had been locked away with Kalerrah.

The Doctor frowned at her. "And who is that then?"

"His name is Daniel Dupree. He came to ask me a few questions when Kalerrah and I were stuck in that dark and cold room." She told him, letting out a sigh. "Something tells me that he is after the glory. He wanted to use both of us as bargaining chips, getting others to do what he wanted if you ever wanted to see us again."

"We not going back. Are we?" Kalerrah spoke, the fear seeping into his voice as Lagerra held him tightly.

Kari just looked at him sadly before walking over to him and bending down so that they were at eye level. "I'm sorry, Kalerrah, but we have to. If we ever want to stop this, for you to be left to live in peace and to have your home back, then we have to do this." She told him softly. Kari could understand completely why he didn't want to go back there, she wasn't too keen on going back there really, but she knew that they had to.

The young boy nodded at her. "Okay, as long as you there, I know I be safe." He said, giving her a smile.

"Exactly." Kari said, giving him a smile as well. "I will never, ever let them hurt you. I promise. But just do me a tiny favour." She asked, still smiling at him softly. "Warn me that next time you're going to turn into a dragon, yeah?"

Kalerrah chuckled a little and his eyes just lit up. "Okay, I promise." He said, before reaching forward and hugging her tightly.

She embraced him back, holding him for a moment before pulling away again. "Right, come on then. The sooner this is dealt with, the sooner I can get some sleep." Kari said, trying to keep herself cheerful.

The Doctor took hold of Kari's hand once more, Amy and Rory trailing behind them slightly with Kalerrah grasping the hand of Lagerra. There were nervous looks on all of their faces, and Kari could feel her chest pounding. The last time she had been in the building, when they had been escaping, something had happened that she really couldn't explain.

She remembered talking to the soldier, Kathleen, and then something inside of her just seemed to take over. It was like she had just gone into a trance and had no control over what was happening. And that scared her, a lot. It was just that, she was worried about how to tell the Doctor what had happened. Kari knew that there was still a lot she hadn't told him, and she didn't know if she ever would tell him.

"_Hey, you okay?"_ The Doctor called to her, looking over at her as they walked. He was no longer holding her hand, she had her arm wrapped around his and he was keeping her close to him.

She turned her head and looked at him, forcing a smile onto her face. _"Course I'm okay. I'm always okay." _She said, knowing that it was something he had said so many times before.

Kari watched as a frown formed on his face. _"Liar. I know you, Kari, and something is bothering you."_

Part of her wanted to tell him what it was, why she was scared and afraid, but there was a greater part of her that was insisting that it wasn't the right time. _"It doesn't matter. We can talk later." _Once again he frowned at her, but nodded, accepting what she was saying.

Before they knew it, they were standing outside of the dome shaped building once again. Kari couldn't explain why, but she felt that something was wrong. When she turned to look at the rest of the group, her eyes were instantly drawn to Kalerrah. "Hey, come on, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you, I promise." She said, kneeling down in front of him and wiping away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks.

Everyone else seemed shocked, as Kari had been the only one to notice that something was wrong and that the young boy was crying. "Look at me, Kalerrah." She requested softly. He slowly lifted his head and looked at her. "Tell me, who am I?"

"Yo… you're Kari." He stuttered, trying not to let any more tears fall.

She smiled at him. "Yes I am, so what else am I?"

The boy sniffed a little and wiped his eyes quickly. "Angel of Time."

"Exactly." She said, giving him the biggest grin she could manage. "I'm the Angel of Time, and I swear I will never, ever, let anything terrible happen to you." She told him, placing a hand on the side of his cheek. "No matter where in the whole of time and space I am, if you need me, I will be here in an instant. Okay?" Kalerrah nodded at her, still trying to hold back his fear and the tears. "I mean it, Kalerrah. You have to trust me."

Once again the boy nodded at her, finally giving her a real smile. Kari kissed the top of his head, before standing back up and turning to look at the rest of the group. Lagerra was smiling at her, as was the Doctor, while Amy and Rory were just gawping at her. Kari just rolled her eyes, linking her arm back through the Doctor's before trying to drag him forward with her.

But she was pulled back, the Doctor taking a stand and staying where he was. He pulled her into a hug. _"You're so good with children."_ He called to her. _"And you're so caring as well."_

"_Oh… shut up, you. I was just reassuring him. He's scared and he has every right to be after what he has been through. He's just a child, and they locked him up in a cold and dark room. I don't… I just…" _She said, stuttering a little. _"He's a little boy who was scared." _

"Hey, it's okay." The Doctor called to her, stopping and hugging her tightly. He had never expected Kari to get so emotional over what was happening, and it was just making him more curious about what had happened when they had been separated.

Of course, Kari wrapped her arms around him as well. "I know it is." She whispered to him. "How can it not be when I have you?"

The Doctor couldn't help but let a cheesy grin spread across his face. From what she had said only the day before, he didn't think he would be hearing something like that coming from her lips. "You've always got me." He whispered back to her. "Forever and always."

Kari just chuckled a little. "Yeah, forever and always."

"You sure you're okay?" He asked her once more as he pulled away a little.

Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "No, I'm really not okay. I'm tired, hungry and utterly messed in the head right now." She told him honestly. "But we have other things to be dealing with right now."

"Kari…" The Doctor started, only to be interrupted by her.

"No. So don't even bother, Doctor. The answer is no." She said, ready for him to either ask her what was wrong or to send her back to the TARDIS. "Just because I'm tired, that does not mean I am capable of going in there and kicking someone's backside.

He just smiled at her and nodded. "So, what's the plan then, Doctor?" Amy asked, bouncing forward with Rory attached to her arm.

"Let's go and see if anyone is home." The Doctor called, beginning the walk forward again with Kari hanging off his arm.

As they carried on walking, Amy and Rory began to whisper. "Do you think Kari is okay?" Amy asked, the worry evident in her voice as she spoke.

"I don't know. It look's to me like she is avoiding talking about something. But I could be completely wrong." He told her, shrugging his shoulders.

"I wonder what happened to her." Amy pondered out loud to Rory. "You know, back when she went missing."

"I'm sure that whatever it was, the Doctor will take care of it all." Rory assured her. Amy just nodded at him, hoping that he really was right. She was worried about her friend, just like the Doctor was worried about her. Rory was the only one who seemed to be calm with everything, but then he hadn't really spent much time with Kari. He didn't know her as well as the others did.

"I think they're expecting us." Kari whispered, noticing the door open and the man who she had seen before standing there. He clearly wasn't happy, going from the look on his face.

The Doctor's grip on her hand tightened as they carried on waling forward. "Hello, I'm the Doctor." He said confidently, noticing a sudden moment of fear from Kari.

"I don't care who you are. You have no right to be here." The man, Daniel, spat.

"Actually, I think you'll find that it's you who has no right to be here." The Doctor replied, ready to shoot the man straight back down. He was not happy with what had happened with the Karleon's, but also because they had taken Kari away from him.

Daniel snorted. "And who are you to decide that? This has nothing to do with you. These… monsters were the ones who decided to start killing each other. We had to step in to make sure they didn't harm anyone else."

"Like I said, I'm the Doctor." Kari looked over at him and saw a fire starting to burn in his eyes. She knew in an instant that he was not playing games with the man.

"And like I said, I don't care." Daniel snarled, taking a step closer to the group. Out of the corner of her eye, Kari noticed Kalerrah take a step back. It was as clear as day that he was afraid of the man.

"Is that why you done it?" She asked, trying her best to keep her voice strong. "Why you sent that nanovirus to this planet?"

A slight flicker of panic flashed across the man's face. "I have no idea what you are talking about." He answered nervously.

"Oh, don't give me that. How did you know what was going on here? Why did the pod that crashed here come from one of your ships that has been orbiting this planet for who knows how long?" Kari demanded. That was when the Doctor noticed her eyes had started to turn gold, and that was the sign that she was getting angry.

"I don't have to tell you anything." He hissed, taking a step closer towards her. "This isn't your planet, these aren't your friends, so why should you care?"

Kari pulled her hand away from the Doctor and took a step closer to the man, determined not to show him any fear. "They are my friends. Humans and Karleon's are both my friends. Why shouldn't I care, especially when someone like you comes along and starts a pointless war? All because he wants the glory."

"You know nothing about any of this, or me." He tried to defend.

"I know more than you think, Daniel Dupree." Kari said, keeping her eyes firmly locked with his. "Have you ever heard of the Doctor? The Oncoming Storm?" She asked. "Because the Karleon's have."

Daniel laughed in her face. "Stories, that's all they are. Made up stories."

"So come on then, Daniel, what do those stories say?" Her eyes were beginning to burn gold more and more, and it was making the Doctor worry about her. He knew what she could get like, how she could sometimes lose herself when she became angry. He didn't want that to happen to her, he didn't want to see her lose herself.

"The Doctor, the last of the Time Lords. The Oncoming Storm." Daniel said, with a rather bored tone. "A hero to many and an enemy to so many more. The destroyer of worlds, the murderer."

Kari heard the Doctor take a sharp breath at being called the destroyer and a murderer. "You call him a murderer? What have you been doing? The Doctor has a past, we all do, but what's yours, I wonder?"

"I haven't killed as many as he has." Daniel spat at her.

"You haven't lived as long as he has either." Kari replied calmly. She was not going to let this man get the better of her, nor was she going to let him get away with trying to hurt her Doctor. "So you've heard of the Doctor, but what about the Angel of Time, Daniel? What do you know of them?"

He suddenly froze and his eyes widened. "That's… that's just a story. A myth, it isn't real. They aren't real. There is no such thing as the Angel of Time."

"I beg to differ, Daniel Dupree, third son of Lucas and Gina Dupree. Husband to Macy, and father to Alex." That was when her eyes shone brighter than the Doctor had ever seen before. "My name is Kari, I'm the last Time Lady, travelling through the whole of time and space, always finding my Doctor, protecting him. I am the Angel of Time." She said, before a bright golden light made everyone shield their eyes a little.

Amy and Rory both stood there in utter amazement. Amy knew that Kari was different, that she could do some really odd things, but she had never expected that. The Doctor seemed just as shocked as they were. The only ones who seemed to be smiling were Kalerrah and Lagerra. Of course, Kalerrah had seen it happen before and Lagerra knew all about it as well.

"You should never have come to this planet, Daniel." Kari told him quietly. "But you're so desperate to prove yourself to your father, to show him that you can be the leader he expects you to be. But you are not him, you can never be the man he wants because you are not him."

"I… I can't let him down. I have to show him that I am not useless, that my brothers are not better than me." The man whispered, looking like he was in just as much of a trance as Kari was.

"And what of your mother?" She asked him, earing a confused look. "She has never wanted you to be your father, or to be like your brothers. She loves you just as much the way you are. You have nothing to prove to anyone."

"But I… I just…" It was clear he no longer knew what he was doing.

"Leave, Daniel. There is no point trying to be someone you're not. You're not happy with the person you are, I know that you are not a cold-hearted killer. You can be so much more, all you have to do is leave." She told him softly, reaching out and taking a hold of his hand. "Go home, Daniel, go home and see your mother. She's still waiting for you to visit."

Slowly he nodded at her before pulling out his radio. "Initiate immediate evacuation. We're going home. This is over." He called. A moment later a siren started blaring in the background and rushing footsteps could be heard. "Thank you." He said to Kari, before looking over at Kalerrah. "I'm so sorry. For everything that I have done."

Kalerrah managed to smile at him a little. "Go home, see your family." He said to the man. The young boy was still slightly nervous that something was going to go wrong, that they weren't going to leave. But soon enough they heard the hum of teleports and they knew the humans were leaving.

"Time to go now, Daniel." Kari told him, letting go of his hand and taking a step back. He nodded at her once more, before hitting his teleport and disappearing.

Once he was gone, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, before her legs gave way and she fell backwards. Lucky for her, the Doctor was behind her and he quickly reacted and caught her. The golden swarm around her faded and she let out a slight groan. "Another thing to add to my 'never do again' list." She mumbled.

"Kari? Are you okay?" The Doctor asked her, gathering her up in his arms. Her body was limp, and yet she was conscious, which made him worry only a little less.

"No. Can I go to bed now please? You did promise me." She muttered as she rested her head against him as he held her close.

He let out a soft chuckle. "Of course you can. Anything for you, Kari." He said, before lightly kissing the top of her head.

The group headed out of the dome shaped building, the Doctor still carrying Kari. All their eyes turned to the sky as they watched a gigantic metal ship zooming past overhead, leaving a trail of black smoke behind it.

"They have gone." Lagerra said, letting out a sigh of relief. "We can finally begin to rebuild our lives."

"Do you really think they're gone?" Amy asked, trying her best not to glance over at Kari. She was already worrying about her, and just seeing her so exhausted was probably going to make her worry even more.

"We can only hope." Lagerra answered her, keeping a tight grip on his nephew. He had believed he had lost everything, his whole family taken away from him by the humans. But now he had his nephew back, he still had something to hold onto and someone to care for.

"They won't come back." Kari whispered, struggling to find the energy to stay awake. "They wouldn't dare."

There was a smile on Kalerrah's face, but sadness in his eyes. "The Angel of Time saved us. And now she's going to leave us."

Even the Doctor felt a little sad. He had seen just how attached to Kari the young Karleon had become, and it really did pain him to see him so upset and sad. "Well, I'm sure Kari would love to come back and visit." The Doctor told him. "I'm sure we all would."

The young boy's bright green eyes lit up. "You promise?"

The Doctor just smiled at him. "I promise."

After that the group headed back through the forest and towards the TARDIS. The Doctor needed to get Kari inside, to check her over and to make sure that she was okay. He couldn't stop worrying about her and about how she seemed to have no energy at all.

Everyone piled into the TARDIS, including Kalerrah and Lagerra. They were both amazed with what they were seeing, their mouths hanging open. "I need to get Kari to her room." He was still carrying her in his arms, her face now looking a little pale.

Not knowing where they were really up to, the Doctor didn't even try to take Kari to her room, instead he took her straight to his and gently placed her down on the bed. The concern he was feeling for her was so high, and he didn't know whether he should stay there with her while she slept, or go back and say goodbye to the Karleon's. He didn't want to hang around any longer, but he knew that Kari was going to give him an earful no matter what he done.

"I promise we'll come back and see them all again, Kari." He whisper to her, pulling the covers tightly around her. "Sleep well." He kissed the top of her head before leaving the room and heading back to the main console.

There were so many things he needed to talk to Kari about now, such as all this 'Angel of Time' business. He still needed to know how she managed to escape in the first place, but that could wait. Right now he knew that she needed to rest, she deserved it.

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**A/N: So, I hope you guys liked it. I did work really hard on it, and I have got a few things still up my sleeve. **

**Now, a big thank you to all who have reviewed. They make me smile, and they help me to forget all about any writers block, or lack of time and get writing. And a thank you to all who have followed/favourited. **

**you guys know the drill by now, please review if you can, or PM me. **

**Pippa.**


	36. Everyone Has Secrets

**A/N: I was meant to upload this several hours ago, but I got distracted, as usual. Sorry to my dear friend who was waiting for this chapter. **

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Kari felt a pair of arms around as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision blurred slightly as she blinked several times to try to clear them and focus on what was beside her. When everything finally came into focus, she was faced with the Doctor, gazing at her and gently stoking her hair.

"Hey." He said to her softly.

She smiled at him a little. "Hi." Kari whispered, trying to fully pull herself out of the long, deep sleep she had been in.

"How you feeling?" He asked, not breaking his gaze on her.

"Better. Much better." She told him, before shifting over in the bed and moving as close to him as she could. She put her arms around him, resting her head against his chest, listening to his hearts beating. Without realising it, she let a few tears escape from her tired eyes.

"Hey, what's the matter?" The Doctor asked her, instantly knowing that she was crying somehow.

"No… nothing. I just…" She stuttered, before choking a little on a sob that was caught in her throat. "I was scared. I kept calling to you, but you couldn't hear me. And then… then something happened and…"

He could see she was struggling, that she didn't really know how to explain what had happened or how so was feeling. "Shush, come on, Kari. It's okay now, I'm here, I will always be here." He whispered to her, trying to calm her down and reassure her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, pulling herself away from him a little. "I don't know why you put up me with." Kari told him, wiping away the tears as best she could with the back of her hand.

"Hey now, I don't put up with you. Don't ever say that, Kari. You mean everything to me, and you should know that by now." He told her calmly, taking a tight hold of one of her hands. He knew just how stubborn she could be, and how she would tend to blame herself for things when there really was no need.

Kari looked up at him, seeing the looking on his face and the worry in his eyes. "You mean everything to me too, Theta." She whispered, moving a little closer to him again.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile as she used his nickname. Every time she called him that, it just made him happy. "Now come on, I promised Kalerrah that you would go and visit him the moment you were feeling better." He told her, kissing the top of her head.

Kari just looked up at him. "Not yet." She told him, edging a little closer, closing the small gap that was still between them.

He frowned at her, wondering why she didn't want to go and see the child that she had protected, that she had helped to escape, the child she had saved. "Why not, Kari?" He asked her softly.

"Because…" Kari whispered, gazing at the Doctor and biting her lower lip slightly. "There's something I need to do first." She held her gaze as she leaned in closer, putting a hand on the side of the Doctor's face.

It seemed like he knew exactly what Kari was going to do, and the nervous look in her eyes said it all as well. He moved both of his hands, placing them on her warm cheeks, before closing the gap between their faces and kissing her softly on the lips.

Kari's arms slid around her neck, as her hearts pounded in her chest. She had never imagined she would meet the Doctor, travel the stars with him, and fall in love with him. But she had, and now she was ready to finally admit it. Her life had changed so much, and now she was ready to accept it, and make the most of what she had been given.

Eventually, the pair broke apart, Kari was blushing furiously, using her long hair to try and hide her face from the Doctor. If she had been looking, she would have seen the smile on his face, a smile that showed just how happy he was.

"Okay, now I'm ready." Kari mumbled, trying to pull herself back together once more. Sure the Doctor had kissed her before, such as on the Byzantium, at the hospital where they had met Martha, but those times had been different. This time she had wanted to kiss him, because she had finally realised what she had with him and how much he meant to her.

The Doctor chuckled a little at her awkwardness. "Well, maybe you should go and have a nice hot bath before we go anywhere. I'm sure you will feel even better after having one." He suggested, watching as she peeked out from under her hair.

"Uh, yeah, okay." She muttered, hoping that the redness in her cheeks would hurry up and fade. But that was when it happened, the headache she had been waiting for started. "Or maybe not…" she said, letting out a sigh as her hands started to glow.

"Oh, Kari." The Doctor said, giving her a quick hug. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

She nodded at him. "Guess I won't be going to see Kalerrah any time soon." She mumbled, before being completely taken over by the golden light.

Kari waited until the pain finally started to subside. She had just spent so long with one Doctor that she had almost forgotten that she would end up being pulled through the whole of time and space. She had been so happy there, with her bow tie wearing Doctor, and now she had been pulled away from him.

When she finally dared to open her eyes, she found she was in exactly the same place as she had been before. Only the Doctor wasn't there with her. "I guess I had better go and find him then." She muttered to herself, pushing herself off the bed.

Just as she reached the door it swung open and her bow tie wearing Doctor stood there, shocked. "Kari? What are you doing in here?" He asked, sounding a little nervous.

"Uh, nothing. I was just about to come and find you." Replied, wondering why he was so nervous. "I've, uh, only just got here."

He studied her carefully. "You've only just got here?"

"Yes. I was with you, then got pulled through time and space. You know, that's what usually happens to me, how I normally travel." She told him, still curious as to why he was acting so weird.

He seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, right. Good."

Kari frowned at him. "Good? Why is it good?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest. Something was going in, she knew it was.

"Spoilers." He told her, a glint finally appearing in his eyes. "So, where have you just been?"

"Karleon. Where have you just been?" She noticed the Doctor's face soften the moment she said where she had just been.

Without warning, he took hold of her, pulled her up against him as he reached down and kissed her, taking her completely by surprise. Not that Kari was going to complain, after everything that had just happened, after realising how much she needed and wanted the Doctor, she was not going to push him away from her.

"And what was that for?" Kari asked, trying once more to hide her blushing cheeks with her hair.

Only the Doctor was having none of it, and gently lifted her head up with a hand under her chin. "Does there have to be a reason?" He asked her softly.

Kari just smiled at him, ignoring the tint on her cheeks. "No, I guess not. Now, are you going to tell me what you've been up to? Or am I going to have to guess?" She asked him resting herself against him as they began to walk out of his room and down one of the many corridors of the TARDIS.

An even bigger smile took over his face. "I think I'm going to let you work it out. It's always more fun that way."

Kari just shook her head at him. "Really? Fun? For who exactly?" She asked, giving him a look that showed that she did not approve of the way he was behaving.

"For both of us. I get to see you use your brilliant mind, and you get to be brilliant." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"Hmm, you're up to something, aren't you?" Kari asked, bumping at him with her hip as they walked.

He stopped in his tracks, making Kari stop as well. "Why do you always think that I'm up to something?" The Doctor protested.

Kari just looked at him. "Because usually, you are up to something." She replied to him, before reaching up and giving him a peck on the lips. "But do you know what? That's what makes you, you."

A smile crept onto the Doctor's face. "And you wouldn't want me any other way, would you?" He asked her, reaching down a little.

Kari couldn't help but smile as well. "Definitely not." She said, before closing the gap and kissing him once more. Kari was certain about how she was feeling now, and now she was planning on finding the right time to tell the Doctor.

"Come on, Amy and Rory will be glad to see you." The Doctor told her as they once again broke away. He took a tight hold of her hand, and led her out of his room and down the corridor.

Both of them had smiles on their faces as they strolled into the console room. "Guess who I found hiding?" The Doctor called, pulling Kari into the room.

Amy and Rory looked over at her, both smiling, but both sending cautious glances to the Doctor, which didn't go unnoticed by Kari. "Okay, spill. What the hell is going on and why are the lot of you acting weird?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her chest to prove the point that she was not happy.

"Weird? Who's acting weird?" The Doctor said, bouncing around the console.

"You three are." Kari replied, before turning to look at the Doctor. "You were very nervous and slightly scared when you saw me." She said, before spinning and looking at the couple leaning against the railings. "And you two, usually I at least get a hello from someone, all you did was smile before looking over at him." Kari pointed to the Doctor. "So spill, now."

"I was just surprised to see you in…" The Doctor had to stop, he didn't want Amy and Rory to know Kari tended to spend a lot of time in his room. "Well, to just walk straight into you."

Kari just looked at him, studying his every move, trying to work out if he was telling the truth or not. _"You better not be lying to me, Doctor. You know what I get like when I'm angry."_ She warned him.

She looked over at the Ponds. "And what's your excuse then?" The both shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Nothing?"

Amy let out a sigh, before walking over to Kari. "I'm sorry." She said, before wrapping her arms around her. "I was distracted. So much has happened recently."

Kari had no idea what she was talking about, she had no idea where they were all up to. "It's fine. Just don't do it again. It's been a rough few days for me as well, you know what with being kidnapped and meeting a dragon and everything." Kari rambled as Amy let her go.

"So, that's where you've just come from?" Amy asked her, sounding a little sad.

Kari nodded at her. "Yeah, but I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have stayed there for a little bit longer. Seriously, what has gotten into the three of you?" They all just looked at her like she was crazy. "Right, fine. I'm going to get some tea. I'll be back in a while." She said, before storming out of the room.

Kari knew there really was no need to get so worked up, but something just felt wrong. The whole atmosphere in the TARDIS felt wrong, and she didn't like it.

"I… er, better go and make sure she's okay." The Doctor said, before quickly walking out of the room as well, following Kari to the kitchen.

Amy and Rory both stood there. "I don't think I can do this, Rory." Amy said, turning to him, almost in tears. "I have to tell her."

Rory put his hands on her shoulders. "Amy, you can't. River warned both of us what would happen if we did. We can't tell her anything."

"But I just look at her, and I remember it all. There has to be something we can do. Kari knows something is wrong." Amy protested, struggling to hold back the tears that were forming.

The man let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around the red haired woman. "I know. I thought about it when I saw her as well. We have to do what River said, Amy, we have to carry on as if nothing happened."

While he continued to comfort her in the console room, the Doctor had finally managed to catch up with Kari as she started to make some tea. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

It took Kari by surprise slightly, but she just let out a sigh as she grabbed another mug and placed it on the counter with her own. "Nothing. I just don't believe a word that any of you are saying to me, that's all." She said, casually.

"Okay, you want to know why I was nervous when I saw you?" The Doctor asked, spinning her around so that she was facing him. Kari just gave him a look that told him to get on with it or leave her alone. "The last time I saw you, some horrible things were said."

Kari frowned at him. "What do you mean, horrible things?" She asked, wondering what he was getting at.

"I'm not going to go into it, but I thought you were in there, packing up your things and leaving." That was the moment that Kari saw it, such sadness and emotion in the Doctor's eyes.

"Doctor, every time I leave you, it is not by choice. Well, except that one time, back on Earth, but you deserved that one." She said, thinking back to how she had walked away from him after saving Jack.

"You're right, I did deserve that. And I don't deserve you. You've stood by me through everything, you have done so much for me." He told her, making her wonder if everything really was okay. She had never really seen him get like that before, and it was worrying her.

"And you have no idea how much you have done for me." Kari told him, trying to pull him out of the pit he seemed to be heading for. "You could have anyone in the whole of time and space, and yet you stick with me. You've always been there for me, Doctor, every time."

They both just gazed at each other, Kari still trying to work out what was wrong, and the Doctor trying to work out how he was feeling. "I miss you so much when you're gone." He told her, wrapping him arms around her so tightly.

"Yeah, well, maybe it's time to run a few more tests and try to stop all this stupid jumping that happens." Kari told him, trying to breath through the crushing hug he was giving her. "I'm really not overly fond of the pain that comes with it you know."

The Doctor chuckled slightly, releasing his grip on her a little so that she could actually breathe. "I'm so sorry, Kari." He whispered to her.

That just made her frown a little. "What for this time?" She asked, trying to get a better look at his face.

There was a sad look, his old eyes showing the most sadness. "Spoilers." He told her, before looking away.

Kari wasn't really sure she liked what was going on. She was just getting even more confused now. All that she could work out was that something seemed to happen in her future, their past, something that the Doctor is sorry for and that has made her favourite Ponds a little nervous around her.

"So come on, are you going to tell me what you lot have been up to yet? Or at least give me a clue as to what is going on?" Kari asked, sitting down at the table with her steaming mug of tea.

The Doctor sat himself down beside her, his own tea in his hands. "Well, we've been to America." He told her, before taking a sip of his drink.

Kari nodded at him. "Okay, spaceman and a little girl. How long ago was that now?"

"Not too long, had a few adventures since then." He told her, watching her closely.

Kari let out a sigh as she put her mug back down on the table. "Okay, so whatever it was happened between America and now. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens next to work out exactly when it happened."

The Doctor frowned at her, slightly worried about how quickly she was working things out. "Kari, it's nothing to worry about. I promise you, everything is just fine." He insisted.

She just looked at him, wondering if everything really was just fine. "Right, if you say so."

He put down his mug and took hold of both of her hands. "I mean it, Kari. Everything is fine, there is nothing for you to worry about."

"I still think you're all keeping something from me. I know you and I know my friends, Doctor, so believe me when I tell you this, I will work it out." Kari warned him.

Once again he let out a sigh. "Kari, I promise you, I have told you the truth. Some things were said the last time I saw you, you were angry with me and I was angry with you. Amy and Rory were scared and you just disappeared."

Kari could tell that he really was telling the truth, even though she was still finding it a little odd that they would even have an argument. The only Doctor she had really fought with was the one with the leather jacket, in his ninth regeneration. "Okay. But since that hasn't happened for me yet, can we just forget all about it?" She asked him hopefully.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at her. "Of course we can. Anything for you, my beautiful, brilliant Kari." She smiled back at him, before taking her hands back and reaching for her mug. "So, how long have you had that for now?" He asked, lightly touching the ring on her finger.

"A while, I guess. It spent more time in my pocket than it has on my hand." Kari admitted to him. "I wasn't exactly sure about what it actually meant when you gave it to me. Actually, I didn't even open it until you had left."

"And what about now?" The Doctor asked her.

Kari just grinned at him. "Well, that is for me to know, and for you to work out all by yourself."

He pouted at her a little, knowing what she was doing. "This is because I wouldn't tell you where we're up to, isn't it?" Kari just smirked some more behind her mug. "See, I knew it, you're just being awkward now."

"Doctor, I'm always awkward, it just comes naturally to me." Kari told him, quickly draining the rest of her tea. "Anyway, since we have both decided to be awkward, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we could go and take the Ponds somewhere amazing." He suggested, making sure he finished his drink just as quickly as Kari had. "Or we could disappear for a few hours, give the married couple some time alone?"

"Disappear and do what, exactly." Kari asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What ever you like. We can go to the library, watch a few movies, go for a swim." He suggested.

"You know, we never did finish that Harry Potter marathon." She told him, thinking back to the last time the pair of them just relaxed and watched some films. Kari had ended up falling asleep in the Doctor's arms on the sofa that night, and woken up in her bed with him beside her.

"Kari?" The Doctor called, waving a hand in front of her face. "You okay?" There was a concerned look on his face as he looked at her.

She shook her head a little, dragging herself out of the memories from that day. "Yeah, sorry. Drifted for a little then. Anyway, like I said, finish off the Harry Potter marathon?" She suggested.

The Doctor just beamed at her. "Brilliant. I hope you remember what one we were up to, because I don't." He said, making her roller her eyes at him.

"Yes, of course I remember. I was watching it in my head if you recall correctly. Now, before we go and get settled, we need popcorn." She told him, jumping out of her chair and rummaging through the cupboards.

A little while later, the pair of them were cuddled up on the sofa, a rather large bowl of popcorn sitting there with them. Although Kari was happy, she couldn't stop thinking about how many things were being kept from her. It seemed like they all had even more secrets than ever before.

Since they were after America, Amy and Rory would be keeping a big secret, a very big secret. They had seen the Doctor die, and possibly Kari as well, if she wanted to believe what River had said. But she wasn't worried about that, that wasn't really a secret, because she already knew about it. Kari was more worried about what the Doctor was keeping from her.

It was a few hours later when the pair was finally found by the married couple that had been searching for them. But Kari and the Doctor were completely unaware that they were even being watched.

"So, this is where they have been hiding the whole time." Amy whispered to Rory as they peeked through the gap they had created. "Why do you think they just disappeared on us?"

Rory let out a sigh. He wasn't happy that his wife had been so persistent in finding the missing Time Lord and Lady, he was quite happy to just spend some time with her for a change. "Maybe they just wanted to spend a little time alone, Amy. That is what couples do."

"They look happy, don't they?" Her tone had suddenly changed, and there was a slight hint of sadness.

"That's probably because they are. This is Kari before all of that happened."

They both backed up and away from the door. "Do you think they will sort things out? The Doctor and the Kari that just left? Do you think everything will be okay?" Amy asked him, a nervous look on her face.

Rory let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around his worried wife. "Of course they will. We've seen them both in the future, we know they sort everything out. The Doctor and Kari fight, but they always make up in the end." He assured her. "Now come on, let's leave them alone. They deserve to spend some time together without all the running around and having to save the universe."

Amy nodded at him, and they both made their way back to their own room, leaving their friends alone. Amy couldn't help but worry about them, because of everything that had happened. There was so much she wanted to tell Kari, but she knew that she couldn't, and that was hard for her.

* * *

**A/N: I know this chapter may seem boring, and completely insignificant, but believe me, there is a lot going on that this chapter is going to bring up. **

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked it, especially my lovely friend (Yes, you know who you are). **

**We have a fantastic episode coming up next, full of twists and surprises, and… maybe a little more kissing… Who knows? Oh wait, I do. I hope you didn't mind the little bit of fluff, I thought it was time that Kari started to sort her feelings out. **

**Right, time for me to stop wittering on. You know how much I love your reviews, so please, review. **

**Pippa.**


	37. The Doctor's… Pt1

**A/N: Hello, everyone. Apologies for long wait. I really enjoyed writing this episode, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. **

* * *

Kari was leaning against the console, completely lost in her own little world. That was where she seemed to be spending a lot of her time since she had appeared in the Doctor's bedroom. Once again she had fallen sleep while watching Harry Potter with the Doctor, they were almost finished with the final film when the Doctor had scooped her up and taken her to his room.

She was surprised when she woke up and found herself curled up in the Doctor's arms, but he was just worried, worried about how much she was sleeping. Their bodies didn't need a much rest as a human, and yet she was still sleeping more than she needed to. Kari just insisted that it was because of stress and worry and so many other things.

"And then we discovered it wasn't the robot king after all, it was the real one." The Doctor's voice rang through her mind, bringing her back to reality. "Fortunately, we were able to re-attached the head."

"Do you believe any of this stuff?" Rory asked his wife as she came down the stairs and strolled past him.

She didn't even look at him when she replied. "I was there."

The Doctor walked around to where Kari was, kissing the top of her head as he went. "Everything okay?" He asked, looking at the console. She just looked at him, forcing a smile on her face as she nodded. "Oh, it's the warning lights. I'm getting rid of those. They never stop." The Doctor moaned as some random lights started flashing on the console.

Kari watched suspiciously as Rory chased after Amy. They were having a whispered conversation, glancing up at her and the Doctor. "Oh, now I know where we are." She mumbled in realisation. "Knock, knock, knock. There's someone at the door." She said, getting a confused look from the Doctor as she let out a sigh.

Before he could say anything, there was a rapping on the door, grasping everyone's attention. "What was what?" Amy asked, coming back up to the console while the Doctor stood there froze, staring at the door.

"The door." He replied in disbelief. "It knocked." The Doctor began to slowly walk away from the console and towards the stairs leading to the door.

"Well, duh." Kari muttered, pushing herself away from the console and following the Doctor.

"Right. We are in deep space." Rory pointed out, joining everyone in staring at the door. The only one who didn't seem phased was Kari.

"Very, very deep." The Doctor reminded him, walking down the last few steps and making his way over to the door. As he did it knocked again.

Kari decided to go and join the Doctor, but bounced down the stairs rather than take them cautiously like the Doctor had. "And someone is knocking. I'd suggest you open the door and see who it is, Doctor." She said, sounding rather bored, when the truth was she was slightly worried about what was going to happen next.

She knew the episode, and she knew it well, but maybe there was a way she could convince the Doctor to ignore the message, to not go to that planet, to save him the heartache of what was to come.

As the Doctor slowly opened the doors, a smile formed on his face. "Oh, come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty." He said, reaching out for the glowing box before him.

Instantly Kari ducked, as it flew into the TARDIS, up towards Rory and Amy before heading back and hitting the Doctor. "A box?" Rory questioned, as the Doctor grabbed hold of it and held onto it tightly.

"Doctor, what is it?" Amy asked, still standing atop the stairs with her husband.

Kari was waiting for the Doctor to explain, but he didn't, he was too busy looking at the box. She let out a sigh. "Someone's got mail." She explained, looking over at them. "Time Lord emergency, uh, messaging system."

Finally the Doctor came back to his senses. "In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. Anyway, there's a living Time Lord still out there, and it's one of the good ones." He told them all excitedly, wandering around the console and twisting knobs.

Rory just looked at him in confusion. "You said there weren't any other Time Lords left." He pointed out.

"There are no Time Lords left anywhere in the universe." The Doctor told him. "But the universe isn't where we're going. See that snake?" He pointed to the image on the box, a snake in a circle, it looked as if it was chewing on it's own tail.

"The mark of the Corsair." Kari said, at the same time the Doctor did.

The Doctor frowned at her, there was something about the way she was acting that was making him feel a little uneasy. "Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooh, she was a bad girl. Never leave him, or her, alone in the same room as Kari. All hell will break loose." He said, just as everything on the console started to spark.

"Uh, Doctor, I really don't think this is a good idea." Kari warned him, holding on tightly. She knew what was coming, and she was preparing herself.

"Oh, what is happening?" Rory asked, holding on tightly now that things were shaking.

"We're leaving the universe." The Doctor shouted over all the commotion.

"How can you leave the universe?" Amy cried back to him as she clung on to the console tightly. None of them really wanted to be tossed around at the moment.

"With enormous difficulty. Right now I'm burning up the TARDIS rooms to give us some welly." He told her, hitting a few of the keys on the console.

"Oh, and there goes the swimming pool." Kari moaned, getting an odd look from the Doctor. "And the scullery. Oh yes, and Sayonara squash court seven. Why do you even have a squash court seven? Is one just not enough for you?"

There was yet another explosion from the console, followed by a shower of sparks. A few moments later they landed with a thump, knocking everyone but Kari off their feet. Straight away Kari felt something different, something that was making her want to scream.

"Okay, okay." Amy said as she picked herself up and tried to compose herself. "Where are we?"

The Doctor could only smile at her. He was so full of hope and excitement, and it was hurting Kari to know what the outcome was going to be. "Outside of the universe, where we've never, ever been."

That was when Kari took a deep breath, and the lights went out throughout the whole of the TARDIS. It suddenly felt cold and empty, and the gentle hum and reassurance she could always sense and feel in her mind was gone.

"Is that meant to be happening?" Rory asked, sounding a little worried.

"The power… it's draining." The Doctor told him, starting to panic himself as he tried to work out what was going on. "Everything's draining. But it can't. That's… that's impossible." He said, before looking up at Kari. There were tears brimming in her eyes, ready to fall the moment she blinked, and only the Doctor had seen them.

"What is that?" Rory asked, hearing a strange hissing type of noise.

"It's the TARDIS Matrix." Kari whispered, trying to keep it together. "It's… the soul of the TARDIS, and it's vanished. Gone."

"Where would it go?" The Doctor wondered, before stepping over to Kari. "You okay?" He asked, brushing his thumb against her cheek and wiping away some of the tears that had fallen.

"Yeah." She replied, her voice cracking a little. "I'm fine. I know where we're up to now. I told you we shouldn't have come here."

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "Oh, you know what's going to happen, don't you, Kari?" He whispered to her, knowing that that must have been the reason why she was getting so upset.

She nodded and rested her head against his chest. "It's going to be a tough day. For all of us." She whispered back to him, making sure that Amy and Rory couldn't hear her.

"Are you going to be okay?" The Doctor asked, the concern for his ship now being taken over by the concern for Kari.

"I'll be fine. I'm just feeling a little… weird, at the moment." She admitted, brushing away the rest of the tears with the back of her hand.

The Doctor frowned at her. "What do you mean, weird?"

"I don't know, it's like… like someone has taken part of me away. Like I'm not completely here, like a part of me is somewhere else." Even she was confused with what she was saying, it was a feeling she had never experienced before and just couldn't really explain it.

"Whatever it is, we'll work it out, I promise you." He told her, before reaching down and kissing her lightly on the lips.

Kari forced herself to smile. "I know. Now come on, we should probably go and investigate now, no point hanging around in here." The Doctor knew exactly what she was doing, the same thing she always done when something was bothering her. She was trying to distract herself, and him at the same time.

The moment they stepped out of the doors, Kari let out a sharp breath. The Doctor was still beside her and gave her a concerned look. "I'm okay, it's fine. I just felt a little dizzy, that's all." She told him, completely avoiding telling him the truth.

Everything wasn't fine. She knew where they were standing, what they were surrounded by, and it was tugging her insides to see it all. Somehow she felt connected to everything she was seeing there, and it was only going to make the adventure harder for her.

"So, what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked, looking around where they were while he inspected their surroundings better.

"He was in a bind. A bit of a pickle. Sort of distress." He said, not really paying her that much attention. The Doctor had too many other things to worry about, such as Kari and their TARDIS.

"Ah, you can't just say you don't know." The red head said, a smirk on her face.

"But what is this place? The scrap yard at the end of the universe?" Rory suggested, as he too looked at the junk that surrounded them.

"Not end of, outside of." The Doctor reminded him.

"And it's not junk either." Kari whispered, looking down at the broken parts by her feet. She was treading carefully, not wanting to actually step on anything but the ground.

It seemed that no one had heard her comment as Rory began to speak once more. "How can we be outside of the universe?" He asked as the Doctor draped his arm over the man's shoulder as they walked. "The universe is everything."

"Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside." The Doctor told him, Kari still on his other side.

"Okay."

"Because it's nothing like that so it is completely pointless to even suggest it, Doctor." Kari told them as they reached where the TARDIS was parked.

The Doctor just frowned at her before looking back at their ship. "Completely drained. Look at her." He said, running his hand over the smooth wood of the box.

"Wait, so we're in a tiny bubble universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe?" Amy asked, trying to get a clearer picture of what was really going on and where they were.

"Yes." The Doctor told her confidently.

Kari just glared at him. "No, we're not." She replied firmly.

The Doctor just gave her a soft smile, he knew she was not in a very good mood at the moment and so knew not to get on her bad side. "But if it helps, yes. This place is full of rift energy. She'll probably refuel just by being here."

"We're not in Cardiff anymore, Doctor." Kari mumbled to herself.

The Doctor just carried on with his assessment of where they were. "Now, this place. What do we think, eh? Gravity's almost Earth normal, air's breathable, but it smells like…"

"Armpits." Amy and Kari said at the same time. Amy just looked at Kari a smiled at her, getting a very weak smile back.

"Armpits." The Doctor confirmed, pleased to see that Amy had made Kari almost smile.

"What about all this stuff?" Rory asked, looking at the mess and junk before them. "Where did this come from?"

"The rift." Kari told him simply. "Every now and again stuff gets sucked through it. Happens a lot in Cardiff."

"A rift? In Cardiff?" Rory questioned, to which Kari just nodded at him.

The Doctor decided it was time to move on, and focus on what was happening so that he could get Kari out of there. "So, not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we've just fallen down it." He told them all.

"Thief! Thief!" A woman shouted, running towards the group. "You're my thief!" She called to the Doctor before looking at Kari. "Oh, my Angel, my beautiful Angel."

"She's dangerous. Guard yourself." An older woman called, chasing the woman and with an odd looking man behind her.

The Doctor was struggling to keep the woman off him, she was all hands on and grabbing at him everywhere. "Look at you. Goodbye. No, not goodbye. What's the other one?" She asked, sounding more than just a little mad.

Kari just gently put a hand on the woman, trying to calm her down. She wasn't scared of her like the Doctor, Amy and Rory were. The woman just looked at her and smiled. "My beautiful Angel." She said to Kari once more.

"Watch out. Careful." The odd man called. "Keep back from her. Welcome, strangers. Lovely. Sorry about the mad person." He said, as the odd looking woman held back the so-called mad woman.

"Why am I a thief?" The Doctor asked, tightly wrapping his arm around Kari's waist. "What have I stolen?"

"Me. You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing." The woman said, seeming a little flustered. "Oh tenses are difficult, aren't they?" She asked, looking and smiling at Kari at that point. All Kari could do was smile back at her and nod.

"Oh. Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head. They call me Auntie." The weird looking woman introduced herself.

"And I'm Uncle." The man added. "I'm everybody's Uncle. Just keep back from this one. She bites." He warned.

Immediately the mad woman's eyes lit up. "Do I? Excellent." She said, before taking a bite of the Doctor's ear, making him cry out in pain. All Kari could do was shake her head as she tried to contain the giggles that were brewing.

"Biting's excellent." The woman said, her eyes still gleaming. "It's like kissing, only there's a winner."

"So sorry. She's doolally." Uncle told them all.

That seemed to irritate the woman slightly. "No I'm not doolally. I'm… I'm… It's on the tip of my tongue." She said, before her eyes widened. "I've just had a new idea about kissing. Come here…" She went to step forward, but saw the frown on Kari's face. "No, I'll leave the kissing to my Angel."

The Doctor and Kari just shared a look, the Doctor looked confused, while Kari just couldn't contain her laughter any more and let her giggles burst out. "Oh, you and your giggles." The mad woman said, shaking her head. "Focus, my Angel, focus." She said softly, making Kari look up at her and instantly stop giggling.

The woman looked from Kari to the Doctor, her expression changing to one of sadness. "Oh, but now you're angry. No you're not. You will be angry. The little boxes will make you angry." She told them, looking like she was in a world of her own.

The Doctor just looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry? The little what? Boxes?" He asked, taking a step closer to the woman once more, Kari right beside him, like she always was.

The woman laughed as she grabbed hold of the Doctors face. "Your chin is hilarious." She commented, before turning her head sharply and looking at Rory. "It means the smell of dust after rain."

"What does?" Rory asked, now joining in on the confusing conversation that only Kari was able to follow.

"Petrichor." Kari and the woman said at the same time, earning a frown from the Doctor, Amy and Rory, while the so-called mad woman just beamed at her.

Rory was still just as confused. "But I didn't ask."

"Not yet. But you will." She told them all.

"No. No, Idris. I think you should have a rest." Auntie said, putting a hand on the woman's arm, trying to get her to shut up and calm down.

"Rest. Yes, yes. Good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch." She fell to the ground instantly, but Kari and the Doctor were quick to catch her. They rested her down properly so that Rory could check her over.

"Is that is? Is she dead now?" Uncle asked, not waiting for an answer. "So sad"

Kari glared up at the man. "She's not dead. She's still breathing."

"Nephew, take Idris somewhere she can not bite people." Uncle said, taking a step away from Kari, looking slightly scared of her. The glare she had given him made him shiver to the core.

The Doctor spun around to see who this 'Nephew' was, and came face to face with an Ood. But there was something different about it compared to the ones he had met before. This one had green eyes.

"Oh, hello." The Doctor said, going over to the Odd.

Amy and Rory both took a step back, a little more cautious and afraid than the Doctor was. "Doctor, what is that?" Amy asked, as Kari moved from beside Idris, the mad woman and walked over to the Ood.

"Oh, calm down you lot, it's just an Ood. I love an Ood." Kari told them, looking down at the plastic ball attached to its clothing. "Except he can't talk, because his translator is on the wrong frequency." She told them, whipping out her sonic screwdriver and twirling it in her hands. "May I?" She asked, getting a nod from the Ood.

"Nephew was broken when he came here." Auntie told them all. "Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us."

Kari took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she turned on her screwdriver, repairing the translator ball for the Ood, and allowing several voices to float into the air at the same time.

The ball suddenly glowed green, like the eyes of the Ood. _"If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey."_ A voice boomed through the tense atmosphere. _"Tell them that I am still alive. I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet."_ After that, it became harder to understand, as more voices called out for help.

"What was that? Was that him?" Rory asked as the Doctor stepped over to Kari and looked at the Ood some more.

"No, no. It's picking up something else. But that's… that's not possible. That's… that's…" The Doctor really didn't know what to say, he was completely dumbstruck and at a loss. "Who else is here?" He asked, turning sharply to Auntie and Uncle. "Tell me. Show me. Show me!" He pretty much shouted and ordered.

Auntie and Uncle were still rather calm, clearly not fazed by the Doctor's outburst of rage and confusion. "Just what you see. Just the four of us, and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?" The Ood nodded and got to work in moving the woman, the woman that Kari was worrying about.

"The House? What's the House?" The Doctor asked curiously, reaching out for Kari's hand and grasping it tightly.

"House is all around you, my sweets. You are standing on him. This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?" She asked, stepping closer to Kari and lightly running her fingers down her arm. It sent a shiver down her spine, and Kari instantly thought of all the things that could go wrong and what could happen to her.

"Meet him?" Rory interjected before the Doctor could say anything.

Kari just forced a smile on her face and looked at Auntie. "He'd love to. In fact, I think we all would."

"This way. Come, please. Come." Uncle said, taking the lead with Auntie.

The group hung back a little, Kari was trying to just shake of the bad feeling she had just had. She knew the story, the whole adventure was etched in her mind, she knew what was going to happen and how it all ended. So why was she so scared and worried all of a sudden?

"What's wrong?" Amy whispered to the pair. "What were those voices?"

"Time Lords." Kari and the Doctor both replied quietly.

"It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of Time Lords." The Doctor told her, glancing at Kari. She had told him she knew what was going to happen, and now she was avoiding his gaze. She knew what was happening, and he could tell from her attitude that it wasn't going to be great.

The four of them continued to follow the odd people, until the eventually stopped. "Come, come, come." Uncle said, beckoning them over. "You can see the House and he can look at you."

They all followed a few more steps, stopping and looking down through a hole in the ground. "I see." The Doctor said, paying close attention to what was in the hole. "This asteroid is sentient."

"We walk on his back, breathe his are, eat his food." Auntie listed off.

"Smell its armpits." Amy joked, along with Kari. They both smiled at each other, but Amy's smile quickly faded as she sharply looked away.

"_And do my will."_ A new voice called. _"You are most welcome, travellers." _

The new voice seemed to freak Amy out a little. "Doctor, that voice, that's the asteroid talking?" She asked.

"Yes. So you're like a sea urchin. Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that's you." The Doctor went on to say, addressing the House.

"_That is correct, Time Lord." _

The Doctor's eyes seemed to light up. "Ah, so you've met Time Lords before?"

"_Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."_ The House told them all.

"So there are Time Lords here, then?" The Doctor asked him, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Kari wasn't feeling so hopeful, she knew the truth, and she knew it was going to hurt her Doctor.

"_Not any more, but there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by." _

"Well, there won't be any more after us. Last Time Lords." He said, gesturing to himself and Kari. "Last TARDIS."

"_A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest, feed, if you will."_ The House told them, being ever so polite and kind to them all.

The Doctor nodded and turned back to face his friends. "We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" Rory asked, hoping to just get out of there. Kari wanted to get out as well, but she knew it wasn't that simple.

"Well, it seems like a friendly planet. Literally." The Doctor replied, before turning to the two odd looking people. "Mind if we poke around a bit?" He asked them.

"You can look all you want. Go, look." Auntie said, before reaching over to Kari and touching her face. "House loves you." Kari quickly pulled herself away from the woman, her touch made her quiver and feel sick.

"Come on then, gang. We're just going to, er, see the sights." He said, gasping Kari's hand tightly as they began to stroll away.

"I thought you hated it when people use 'gang'?" She queried, trying her best to act normal.

The Doctor just frowned at her. "So, how bad is this going to be then? Are there really any Time Lords here? Because you didn't want us to come here did you?"

Kari just looked at him, just wishing that she could changes things so that he didn't have to get hurt. "I can't tell you anything, Doctor. I'm sorry, but I just can't. You'll work it out, you always do." She told him quietly.

"Thief!" They all heard someone shout, causing the Doctor to hush everyone.

"So, as soon as the TARDIS is refuelled, we go, yeah?" Rory asked, ignoring the Doctor's hushing and hoping that he was going to be right.

"No. There are Time Lords here. I heard them and they need me." The Doctor told him, concentrating on where he was walking and trying to work out how Kari was feeling.

"You told me about your people, and you told me what you did." Amy said, looking at him sadly.

The Doctor started to get a little flustered, they just couldn't understand what it meant to him to find another Time Lord, so that it wasn't just him and Kari any more. "Yes, yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good ones and I can save them." He told her.

Amy just frowned at him. "And then tell them you destroyed the others?"

"I can explain. Tell them why I had to." He insisted, causing Kari to squeeze his hand.

"Doctor, they would understand. You don't need their forgiveness, you just need to be you." Kari whispered to him, hoping that she could get through to him. "There was no other way, we both know that."

The Doctor let out a sigh as he looked from her and to Amy. "What do you need from me?" Amy asked, knowing the look that he was giving her.

"My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my jacket." The Doctor told her. He seemed to be distracted still, thinking over what Amy had said and what Kari had said as well.

"You're wearing your jacket. And can't you use Kari's?" Rory wondered.

Kari shook her head. "He has several jackets that are identical. And he likes his screwdriver better, he prefers the green glow to it. Plus, I know what happens to his screwdrivers, and after all the work I put into making this, I don't think I want to let him anywhere near it." She said, clasping onto her own one tightly.

"Okay, I'll get it. But Doctor, listen to me. Don't get emotional, because that's when you make mistakes." Amy told him, being deadly serious.

"Yes, boss." The Doctor replied, saluting to her slightly.

"I'll call you from the TARDIS." She said, looking over at Kari who nodded at her. "Rory, look after them." She said, before heading off to the TARDIS.

Kari just looked at the husband who had been left behind, she knew what had to happen next. "Rory, look after her."

He nodded. "Yeah, okay." Rory said, before chasing after his wife.

"Kari, are you okay?" The Doctor asked her seriously as they continued to walk around investigating.

"Just peachy." She replied moodily. The moment Idris, the mad woman, had been near her, she had felt a strong surge of… something. But now she was feeling empty again. "I just don't feel… me. And it's bugging the hell out of me because I don't understand it." She ended up growling in frustration.

Instantly the Doctor wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. "I'm sorry. Whatever it is, we'll work it out. Okay?"

Kari nodded into his chest. "Yeah, okay." As soon as she said that, the phone that Jack had given her started ringing. "It's Amy." She said, passing it to the Doctor.

"_Hey, we're here. Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?"_

"Yeah, it's around there somewhere. Have a good look." He said, as Kari reached into his pocket and pulled his screwdriver out and turned it on for a brief moment. He hung up the call and handed the phone back to Kari, taking his screwdriver back.

"Come on. Where are you now?" He mumbled, trying to find his Time Lord friends. "Now, where are you all? Where are you?" He pulled back a curtain, revealing a small alcove. "Well, they can't all be in here.

"Yes, they can." Kari whispered as the Doctor opened the doors to a cupboard, revealing a mass of tiny boxes, almost identical to the one that came knocking on the TARDIS doors.

There were so many voices coming from them, so many cries for help. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Auntie and Uncle approach, and his tightened his hold on Kari. "Just admiring your Tome Lord distress signal collection. Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here, but this is what the Ood translator picked up." He rambled. "Cries for help from the long dead. How many Time Lords have you lured here the way you lured me, and what happened to them?" He asked, his temper beginning to rise.

"House, House is kind and he is wise."

"House repairs you when you break. Yes, I know. But how does he mend you? You've got eyes of a twenty year old." He said, taking a step closer to Uncle.

"Thank you."

"No. Oh, no. I mean literally. Your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you. Your ears don't match, your right arm is two inches longer than your left, and how's your dancing?" He growled. "Because you've got two left feet."

"You're patchwork people." Kari told them, doing a better job at staying calm than the Doctor was. "You've been replied and patched up so much, there's nothing left of the people you used to be."

"I had an umbrella like you once." The Doctor added, clasping Aunties wrist and looking at her arm.

"Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this." Auntie said, seeming very proud.

"Corsair." The Doctor whispered, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

"He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle?" He agreed, calling him a big fellow. "I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys."

"You gave me hope, and then you took it away." The Doctor warned them. Kari could sense the Oncoming Storm approaching. "That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me. Basically, run."

"Poor old Time Lord. Too late, House is too clever." Uncle told him, looking Kari up and down.

Now Kari had completely had enough. "Didn't you hear him?" She said in a very low and intimidating voice. "He said run." Kari could feel her eyes starting to burn, and Auntie and Uncles eyes widened before they backed away and ran off.

Her phone started to ring again and she passed it straight to the Doctor without even looking at it. _"No sonic screwdriver." _Amy told him. _"Also, the doors seemed to have locked behind us. Rory things there's a perfectly innocent explanation, but I think you both lied to us." _

The Doctor closed his eyes and took a deep breath while kissing the top of Kari's head, hoping it would calm her down. "Time Lord stuff. Needed you out of the way." He told her.

"_What, we're not good enough for your smart new friends?" _She asked, clearly not happy with how things had worked out.

"The boxes will make you angry." He muttered before looking at Kari. "How could she know?"

"_Doctor, what are you talking about?"_

"Stay put. Stay exactly where you are." He said, hanging up the phone and giving it back to Kari. "How did she know that?"

Kari shrugged, pretending to know nothing. "Why don't we go and ask her that?" She suggested.

He smiled at her, before dragging her with him and starting the hunt for the mad lady who was currently locked up in a cage. "How did you know about the boxes? You said they'd make me angry. How did you know?" He asked when they finally found the woman.

"Ah, it's my thief and Angel." The woman said, looking at the pair.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked, still confused as to what was happening around him. All he knew was that he had been tricked, and that there were no Time Lords here.

"It's about time." The mad woman said, smiling at Kari.

"I don't understand. Who are you?" The Doctor asked her again while Kari managed to free her hand. She was playing with her screwdriver, trying to ignore the strange feeling she was now getting once more around the woman. She knew who she was, but she had no idea why she was feeling the way she was.

"Do you not know me? Just because they put me in here?" She asked, looking at the Doctor. "She knows me. My beautiful Angel knows who I am."

The Doctor looked at Kari in confusion, and she couldn't look him in the eyes. "They said you were dangerous."

"Not the cage, stupid. In here." She said, pointing to her head. "They put me in here. I'm the… Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go…" She made the sound of the TARDIS, the rough grinding sound that Kari had been brought up with.

The Doctor scoffed at the woman. "The TARDIS?"

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Yes, that's it." She said, before glancing at Kari. "Names are funny." She turned her attention back to the Doctor. "It's me. I'm the TARDIS."

"No, you're not. You're bitey mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box."

The woman just looked at him through the bars of the cage. "Yes, that's me. A type 40 TARDIS. I was already a museum piece when you were both young, and the first time you touched my console you said…"

The Doctor let out a sigh. "I said you were one of the most beautiful things I had ever known."

"And then you stole me." She said, looking at Kari who had been strangely quiet. "And I stole you, both of you."

"I borrowed you." He protested, but not very well.

"Borrowing implies the intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give either of you back?" The woman asked, looking between the Doctor and Kari.

"Who said I'd want you to give me back?" Kari mumbled, looking at the woman in the cage still.

"You're the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked, having not heard what Kari had said.

"Yes."

"Our TARDIS?" He asked, gripping Kari's hand a little tighter.

"My Doctor and my beautiful Angel." The woman said "Oh, we have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the lock." She said, looking at Kari. Instantly it clicked open. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" Kari simply nodded to her. "Are all people like this?"

The Doctor frowned at her, while a grin spread across Kari's face. "Like what?"

"So much bigger on the inside." She said, making Kari giggle, but only a little. "I'm… oh, what is that word? It's so big, so complicated. It's so sad."

"But why?" The Doctor asked, getting even more frustrated than ever before. "Why pull the living soul from a TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?"

"Oh, it doesn't want me." The woman said calmly, tilting her head to the side and studying Kari closely.

"How do you know?"

The woman shrugged, but didn't take her eyes away from Kari. "House teats TARDISes."

The Doctor just looked at her, finding it heard to believe what she had just said. "House what? What do you mean?"

"She doesn't know." Kari said quietly. "It's something she heard you say. In the future."

"House eats TARDISes?" He questioned, still not noticing the way the woman was looking at Kari.

"There you go. What are fish fingers?"

"When do I say that?" He asked, looking at Kari then the mad woman who was claiming to be the TARDIS.

"Any second now." Kari told him, rubbing her head a little.

"Are you all right, my Angel?" The woman asked, taking a tentative step towards Kari.

"Of course." The Doctor cried, finally having put the pieces together. "House feeds on rift energy and TARDISes are bursting with it. And not raw, all lovely and cooked. Processed food. Mmm, fish fingers."

"Do fish have fingers?" The woman asked, frowning at Kari, who just shook her head.

"But you can't eat a TARDIS, it would destroy you. Unless… unless."

"Unless you deleted the TARDIS Matrix first." Kari and the woman said at the same time. "So it deleted you." Kari finished off, knowing that the Doctor was going to say it.

"But House can't just delete a TARDIS' consciousness. That would blow a hole in the universe. So he pulls out the matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and then feeds off the remaining Artron energy." The woman looked from the Doctor and to Kari, a smile on her face before she let her eyes settle on the Doctor again. "Oh, you were about to say all of that. I don't suppose you have to now."

"We sent Amy and Rory in there." The Doctor said, his eyes widening. "They'll be eaten." Kari quickly got her phone out, only for the Doctor to snatch it away from her. "Amy! Amy? Rory? Get the hell out of there." He shouted down the phone to them.

"_Doctor, something's wrong."_

"It's House. He's after the TARDIS. Just get out, both of you." The Doctor ordered.

"They can't, Doctor. The door is still locked." Kari told him softly. She knew what was coming, and she was ready for it.

He looked at her with wide eyes as Amy confirmed what she had just said. "But I've unlocked it."

"_You stupid well haven't." _Amy called, before the cloister bell could be heard in the distance and down the phone. _"Doctor, I don't like this."_

"Doctor, you need to go to the TARDIS. Just go, I'll wait here with… the TARDIS." Kari said. The Doctor nodded at her, kissed the top of her head, and then ran off to where the TARDIS had landed, determined to get to it and save their friends.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so coming up next, we have some interesting things. Sexy isn't the Doctor's Wife, so who do you think she could be? I wonder if anyone can work it out. **

**We soon get to learn more about Kari as well, yay! **

**I'm still working on getting through the list of request that I have, I'm slowly getting there. Summer has finally hit where I live so have been taking advantage of that and writing out in the sunshine, and actually getting it done. **

**Now, thank you to everyone who has followed/favourited,you guys rock. And a gigantic thank you to everyone who has reviewed, you guys rock harder! I love reading your reviews, they genuinely make me smile, so remember to leave one. **

**Pippa.**


	38. The Doctor's… Pt2

**A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for all the awesome reviews. I've been working so hard and have several chapters ready for you. Yay!**

* * *

"So, this is interesting." Kari mumbled, not really knowing what else to say.

The woman just looked at her. "It was me."

"What was?" Kari looked at her, completely lost and confused.

"Oh, it's too early. You haven't asked that yet. Ask me something."

"Uh, okay." Kari replied nervously, racking her brains and trying to find something she could ask. She hadn't expected to be in this situation, or for the TARDIS to offer to answer her questions for her. "Why do you call me your beautiful Angel? And what's all this Angel of Time stuff as well?"

"Because you are my beautiful Angel. And you always will be. You travel through the whole of time and space, the time vortex flows within you."

"But why? Why me? What the hell is so damn special about me? I mean, I was living a normal life, well relatively normal, even if it was boring." Kari said, starting to ramble a little. "I've never been popular, I've never been that smart, I'm just a nothing, a nobody."

"Oh no, but you're not, my Angel. You are so much more than all of that. Of all people in all the universes in existence, you are the one that my thief needs." The woman told her softly. "And only you. No one else."

Kari just rubbed her head a little. "You know, I still don't understand any of this. I used to think that none of this was real, that you didn't exist, that the Doctor didn't exist, that this was all just some made up story." She admitted.

"Oh, my precious, beautiful Angel. We have always existed, just not where you could see us." The woman told her, placing a hand on the side of her face and smiling at her. "In time you will see just how much you are meant to be here."

"Was I… Am I…" Kari was struggling to find the words she wanted, to string her sentence together and ask the question that was burning in the back of her mind. "Can I ever go home?"

"You are home, my darling. You belong here, with the Doctor." Kari just nodded, tears forming in her eyes. She knew the deeper meaning to that, she could never go home. She would never see her father again, her whole world was lost to her and there was no way back.

"It's gone." The Doctor called, rushing back towards the pair of women.

"Eaten?" The mad lady who was really the TARDIS asked him, sending a worried look towards Kari.

"No, it left. Not eaten, hi-jacked. But why?" He said, before turning and looking at Kari. He could see the tears. "Hey, what's the matter?" He asked her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Kari was trying to be strong, but she couldn't do it any more, and she let a few tears fall. "Nothing. Bad day." She mumbled into his chest.

The Doctor just looked at the other woman standing there looking at the pair. "I answered some of her questions. Don't worry, Doctor, there are plenty more left for you to answer for her."

"Questions? What questions?"

"The same ones my Angel asks you, but avoid answering." She told him sternly, glaring at him a little.

"What do you mean?" He asked, before looking down at Kari. "Kari, what is going on? Please, talk to me."

She let out a sigh and pulled away from the Doctor a little. "We were just talking, that's all. I asked a few questions, such as why I'm here."

He let out a sigh, it was the same conversation they had over and over again. One thing that he could never convince her of, something that he could never give her a satisfactory answer to. "You're here because you are, Kari. And I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I know. You should be used to my little mood swings by now." She told him, making him chuckle a little. "I guess I just needed more confirmation of some of the things that were bothering me, and who better to ask than the brilliant, fantastic, sexy woman that is the TARDIS?"

"Are you really okay?" He asked her, tucking a lock of her hair that had decided to fall over er face back behind her ear.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I've got the pair of you, how can I not be okay?" She assured him. "And here come the patchwork people." She mumbled, spotting Auntie and Uncle coming.

"It's time for us both to go, Unkie, together." Auntie said as they walked over.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, go? What do you mean go? Where are you going?" The Doctor asked them, getting himself frustrated again.

"Well, we're dying, my love. It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off now." Auntie told them all, wrapping her shawl tightly around her shoulders.

"I'm against it." Uncle added, a blanket draped over himself.

"It's you fault, isn't it, sweets? Because you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on them if there's none more coming, can he?" Auntie told the Doctor, making herself comfortable.

Uncle sat himself down as well, hugging the blanket tightly. "So now he's off to your universe to find more TARDISes." He said.

"Well, that's not going to happen, there are no more TARDISes." Kari said, looking at the poor people that weren't going to last much longer.

"Oh, he'll think of something." Auntie told him, before collapsing into a heap where she had been sitting.

"Actually, I feel fine." Uncle said, before he follow suit and just… died.

"Not dead. You can't just die!" The Doctor shouted at the two bodies.

"We need to go to where I landed, Doctor. Quickly." Their TARDIS in a woman's body told him.

"Why?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Because we are there in three minutes. We need to go now." She said, going to run but only to be overcome by pain. "Roughly how long do these bodies last?" She asked as Kari helped her to stand.

"You're dying." The Doctor told her softly.

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Well of course she's dying. She doesn't belong in a flesh body."

That earned her a smile from the mad woman, who really wasn't mad. "I could blow the casing in no time. No, stop it. Don't get emotional. Hmm, that's what the orangey girl says. You're the Doctor Focus." She said, looking at him, waiting.

"On what? How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box." He rambled. "I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard." Suddenly he perked up. "Ooh."

"Ooh what?" Their dying TARDIS asked.

"I'm not."

She looked at him with confusion while Kari just shook her head. "Not what?"

"Because it's not a junkyard. Don't you see? It's not a junkyard." The Doctor told her, getting more and more excited by the second.

"What is it then?" She asked, not following his train of thought.

"It's a TARDIS junkyard. Come on." He said, grabbing Kari's hand and the other woman's. "Oh, sorry. Do you have a name?" He asked, stopping suddenly.

"Seven hundred years, finally he asks." She said, her hands on her hip, clearly not impressed.

"But what do we call you?" The Doctor pressed.

"I think you call me… Sexy." She said proudly. The expression on the Doctor's face made Kari burst out laughing. "The giggles again. I think you need to kiss her, Doctor." He just looked at her with wide eyes. "Hurry up, we need to move."

The Doctor placed a hand under Kari's chin and tilted her head up. "Kari, stop." He whispered, before giving her a quick peck on the lips. It worked like a charm and she instantly fell silent, a red tint rushing up her neck and to her cheeks. "Right, come on then you, and you as well, sexy." He said, grasping both the hands and starting the trek to where the TARDIS had disappeared.

It didn't take them long to get there, and to look over at the mass before them. "A valley of half eaten TARDISes. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The Doctor asked, once again excited.

"I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead. That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses." The mad woman now known as Sexy told him.

"Ah, sorry no. I wasn't thinking that." The Doctor admitted, feeling a little embarrassed.

"No. You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don't care that it's impossible." Sexy said confidently.

Of course, she was completely right. "If it's not impossible, the Doctor doesn't want to know." Kari said, earning a slight smile from Sexy.

"It's not impossible as long as we're alive." The Doctor told them. "Rory and Amy need us. So yeah, we're going to build a TARDIS."

"Well, this is going to be an interesting experience. I know nothing about any of this, so maybe I should just stay out of the way." Kari said, knowing that she was going to be completely useless at this point.

Sexy just smiled at her, before placing both of her hands on the side of Kari's head and closing her eyes. Kari just felt the stream of information flow into her head, just like it had the other times, such as when she had to make her own sonic screwdriver.

Kari let out a groan. "Will you please stop doing that?" She moaned, rubbing her forehead. "I swear I asked you to warn me the next time you was going to do something like that."

The Doctor looked at them in confusion. "What happened?"

"Someone just streamed all the information I would ever need to know about a TARDIS into my head." Kari told him, looking like she was about to sulk. "Now know more than just how to fly her properly."

"Good, now you can help us." He said, kissing the top of her head before walking off to get started with the construction of the console Kari knew would only just get them to Amy and Rory.

It was a short time later, and Kari was helping Sexy with checking through a few items. "Ask me." Sexy said, tossing yet another piece of an old TARDIS over her shoulder.

"What?"

"You have a question. Ask me."

Kari threw the item in her hand, making it land a few feet in front of her. "Why do I feel so sad here? Seeing all this, the remains of you sister. It just makes me feel so… sad. And I don't know why."

"My beautiful Angel, you're a part of them, as they are a part of you." She said, making Kari frown. "The time vortex lives in all of us, me, my sisters, and you. "

"But how? How did the time vortex get inside of me? I wasn't born with it, how did it get there?" Kari asked, throwing something else away, but just a little bit harder and more forceful. It was easy to see she was getting worked up over it all.

"It was me." Sexy told her, making Kari frown once more. "I told you before, but it was too early. But now you've asked. It was me."

"What do you mean, it was you? How can it have been you?" The woman just took a hold of Kari's hand, and she watched as both hands connected began to glow brightly, the golden mist Kari was so accustomed to seeing building around their hands.

Sexy let go and the light faded, but the shock in Kari's eyes didn't. "That… that light… the thing that…" Kari really didn't know what to say. "But that… that was…" Once again the tears were building in her eyes. She had never expected to find out so much from the TARDIS, especially so much about herself and what had happened to her. "But, why?"

"Oh my darling. My beautiful, golden, Angel of Time. Because you were needed somewhere else." She said, reaching up to Kari's face a brushing away the water that was beginning to spill from her eyes. "Now, no more tears. The Doctor and I both hate to see you upset and cry." The way she had said it, it was in such a motherly way, that Kari just nodded her head and quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Everything okay?" The Doctor asked, coming over with a mass of wires and devices in his arms.

"Yeah, I'm just having a complete mental and emotional break down. Who knew talking to Sexy could be so… interesting." Kari told him, grabbing some more junk off the ground and inspecting it. She was trying to make herself useful, to actually help them build the console, but she had too many other thought running marathons through her mind.

The Doctor just smiled at her, understanding that there were things that she wasn't telling him. He trusted her enough to know that she would eventually tell him what was going on, she always did, even if it did end up with her screaming and shouting at him. At least she would be talking to him.

"Bond the tube directly into the tachyon diverter." Sexy called over to the Doctor.

"Yes, yes. I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know." He snapped, dragging a very large panel across the ground with the help of Kari. At least she felt like she was doing something useful. "I know what I'm doing."

"You're like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom." Sexy said, before looking over at him. "And you never read the instructions."

"I always read the instructions." The Doctor protested, causing Kari to roll her eyes.

"Nope, you don't. You tend to throw them into black holes or supernovas." Kari said, trying to contain the grin that was forcing its way onto her face.

Sexy smiled at her before glaring at the Doctor. "There's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for seven hundred years. What does it say?" She asked him.

"That's not instructions."

"There's an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?" Sexy asked him once more, her hands firmly on her hips.

"Pull to open." He told her, struggling with the panel as Kari wasn't really putting that much effort into pulling it now. She was waiting for her favourite part of the conversation to arrive.

"Yes, and what do you do?"

"I push!" He shouted, making Kari jump just a little.

"Every single time. Seven hundred years. Police box doors open out the way."

"I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want." The Doctor told her throwing down the chains connected to the panel he had been pulling and storming over to the woman.

"Your front doors? Have you any idea how childish that sounds?" Sexy scoffed, not scared by his attitude in the slightest.

"You are not my mother." The Doctor warned her, turning around and walking back over to where Kari was standing, watching the events unfold.

"And you are not my child. Someone else is." Sexy told him.

Instantly the Doctor stopped and spun around to face her once more. "You know, since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just wanted to say, you know, you have never been very reliable." That was when Kari decided to walk over and join them, rather than stand to the side and just watch.

"And you have?" Sexy asked him. "My Angel is the reliable one out of the pair of you."

"You didn't always take me where I wanted to go." The Doctor protested.

Kari placed her hand on the Doctor's arm, hoping to calm him down a little. "No, but she always took you where you needed to go. She brought you to me, she brought you to my back garden one night. She brought you to me and whisked me away with you." She told him softly.

The Doctor just gazed at her. "She did. Look at us talking. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?" He asked, getting a little excited.

"You know I'm not constructed that way. I exist across all space and time, and you talk and run around and bring home strays."

Kari quickly reached forward as Sexy's legs gave way. "One of the kidneys has failed. We need to hurry up and get this console done. Now." Kari said firmly as she tried to help the Sexy mad woman to stand.

"Using a console without a proper shell. It's not going to be safe." The Doctor told them both.

Sexy just looked up at him. "This body has about eighteen minutes left to live. The universe we're in will reach absolute zero in three hours. Safe is relative."

"Then we need to get a move on, Eh, old girl?" The Doctor told her, helping her to stand with Kari.

"We're going to do this." Kari whispered to her. "You know that just as much as I do. We're going to get you back where you belong so you can kick that stupid asteroids backside."

The woman just smiled at her. "Sometimes it's reassuring know that you know so much about what is happening."

"And sometimes it's just a great big headache." Kari admitted. "Sometimes I don't like knowing what's going to happen, knowing who's going to die."

Sexy just let out a sigh. "You can't save everyone. I know you want to, and I know how hard you try to save everyone, but you can't. Everything has its time, my Angel. You should know that by now. Now, go and help the Doctor, and remember that I will always look after you, both of you."

For some reason, Kari couldn't resist rolling her eyes as she walked over to where the Doctor was struggling to carry something on his shoulder. "Need a hand with that?" She asked him, offering to help.

"Are you sure you are okay?" He asked her once more, putting the thing down on the ground so that he could giver her his full attention.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect her to be able to answer so many of my questions." Kari told him, slightly nervous. "Getting a little fed up with being called Angel all the time."

The Doctor just chuckled at her. "So, you're her Angel are you?"

Kari shrugged at him. "Apparently. I'm also the Angel of Time, still a complete mystery what that means as well."

"I'm sure you will work it out one day." He told her, putting an arm around her waist, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head. "You are my brilliant Kari after all."

"I hate it when you say things like that." She moaned. "It means you know something more about it and won't tell me."

"Never mind that, come and help me with this." He said, going to pick up the giant round piece of machinery once more.

"You'll need to install the time rotor." Sexy called to the pair, as they carried it over to where the makeshift console was.

"Well, how is this going to make it through the rift? How?" The Doctor pondered, as Kari helped him slide the time rotor they had been carrying into place. "We're almost done. Thrust diffuser? Er, retroscope. Blue thingy."

"Also known as the stabilisers." Kari whispered to him. "Yes, I do believe I know more about a TARDIS now than you." She said, smirking away at him.

Before he had a chance to say anything clever to her, Sexy was talking once more. "Do you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?" She called, playing with a metal coat hanger.

"We chose you. You were unlocked." The Doctor told her, as he continued to inspect things on the console with Kari.

"Of course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough. With a little help from a certain Angel." She said, smirking at Kari. Kari just shook her head and carried on with what she was trying to do.

"Right, perfect. Look at that." The Doctor called, dragging Kari away from the console so that they could get a better look at their handy work. "What could possible go wrong?"

"Well, for a start…" Kari started, only for the Doctor to clasp a hand over her mouth. She frowned at him, remembering the last time he had done that, and then it turned into a glare as something fell from the newly build console.

"That's fine. That always happens." He said, still covering her mouth. "No, hang on, wait." He cried, before rushing off, leaving Kari alone and returning with a red velvet rope. He quickly hooked it around the console, as something of a safety rope.

Kari had to admit, she was rather excited to be travelling in a makeshift TARDIS, with the Doctor and the TARDIS. It all seemed so surreal but after everything that had happened to her, what was normal any more?

"Right, okay, let's go. Followed that TARDIS." He said, tugging at the coat hanger, which could only be assumed as the leaver that made things work. There was a whirring sound, like something was powering down. "Oh, no, come on. There's rift engery everywhere, you can do it." He moaned, tapping away at the buttons on the console. "Okay, diverting all power to thrust. Let's be having you."

Sparks flew as he began to wind something, making Kari jump a little. "No, no, no, no!" The Doctor cried in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Sexy asked, checking herself over in a small mirror attached to the console.

"It can't hold the charge. It can't even start. There's no power. I've got nothing." He said, sounding a little defeated.

"Oh, my beautiful idiot. You have what you've always had. You've got me." She said, kissing the tips of her fingers lightly, before turning to Kari. "Give me your hand." Instantly Kari done as she was told, and she felt the time vortex running through her. The woman touched the time rotor, and the golden mist flowed through the pair of them and into it, making them dematerialise.

"This is awesome!" Kari shouted over the noise from the machine and the space around them. They were hurtling through space, only half protected.

"We've locked on to them." Sexy told the pair, holding on tightly. "They'll have to lower the shields when I'm close enough to phase inside."

"Can you get a message to Amy?" The Doctor asked her. "The telepathic circuits are online."

"Which one's Amy? The pretty one?" She asked, making Kari burst out laughing. She knew who the pretty one was, and it certainly wasn't going to be Amy. "Hello, Pretty." Sexy called, sending the message through.

"_What the hell is that?"_ Came Rory's reply. Clearly he was in shock at what was happening.

"Don't worry. Telepathic messaging." The Doctor told him. "No, that's Rory." He said, making Kari giggle just a little bit more.

"You have to go to the old control room." Sexy called to Rory. "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields."

"The pretty one?" The Doctor questioned, looking at Kari for some help.

"Hey, that woman has a mind of her own. If she thinks that Rory is the pretty one, then that is her prerogative." She said, holding her hands up in defence.

"You'll have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix. I'll send you the pass key when you get there. Good luck." Sexy said, ending the message.

The Doctor just looked at her. "How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway? The House is in the control room."

Kari just shook her head. "Oh, my dear Doctor, you really do need to pay more attention sometimes. You were too busy thinking over why Rory was the pretty one to know what is really going on." He just looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "They're going to one of the old control rooms."

That just made him frown. "There aren't any old control rooms. They were all deleted or remodelled." He protested.

"I archive them, for neatness. I've got about thirty now." Sexy told him, a smug grin on her face, as well as on Kari's.

"But I've only changed the desktop, what, a dozen times?"

"So far, yes." Kari couldn't help but keep on grinning now.

The Doctor was getting flustered and frustrated now. "You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet."

"You can't."

"But she can." Kari added, still looking smug as well. "She really is brilliant, you know." The Doctor could only smile at her, knowing she was right and just glad to see her more relaxed and not crying.

"Keep going!" The Doctor cried. "You're doing it, you sexy thing."

The TARDIS-trapped-in-a-woman's-body looked up at the Doctor. "See, you do call me that. Is it my name?" She asked.

"You bet it's your name." The Doctor called to her, holding on tightly as they were shaken about even more and a few sparks came from the console.

"And it is the best name in the whole of reality." Kari said, beaming away. It was actually rather thrilling, her hair whipping around her face as they hurtled towards the blue box they were chasing. "They should be at the control room now." She called to Sexy over the noise.

The woman nodded at her. "Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor."

"Come on, Amy. Think it, think." Kari whispered to herself, thinking of the things she knew Amy would be thinking of. The red flag, the birthday cake with 11 candles burning brightly, her laughing away on her wedding day, and finally a water droplet crashing down on the ground.

"They did it. Shields down." Sexy called in delight. "We're coming through. Get out of the way or you'll be atomised." She warned Rory.

"_Where are you coming through?"_ He asked her.

"I don't know." But Kari did. She knew where they were going to materialise and what was going to happen.

"You know, I'm not so sure that is this going to hold." Kari bellowed, a shower of sparks raining down on them all. The Doctor grabbed hold of her, and held onto her tightly as they finally started to materialise in the blue box.

The three of them all fell to the ground, Kari landing on top of the Doctor as they made it safely. "Doctor, Kari?" Amy called, hiding behind one of the coral beams that Kari had seen so many times before.

The Doctor was helping Kari up, before charging over to Amy and hugging her tightly. Kari, however, was more concerned with the woman struggling to stand. "Not good. Not good at all." The woman breathed, leaning on Kari for support. "How do you walk around in these things?"

"It's going to be okay." Kari told her. "Not long now, trust me, I know." The woman just smiled at her a little and nodded and the Doctor came over and joined them.

"Amy, this is… well, she's our TARDIS. Except she's a woman." The Doctor said, a little over excited. "She's a woman, and she's our TARDIS."

Amy just looked at the trio standing there blankly. "She's the TARDIS?"

"And she's a woman. She's a woman and she's the TARDIS." Kari was sure the Doctor was going to start jumping up and down from excitement now.

"Did you wish really hard?" Amy asked, looking at the Doctor. "And you, what did you do?" She said, pointing a finger at Kari.

"Shut up. Not like that." The Doctor said, getting slightly flustered.

"And I didn't do anything. What you blaming me for? It's because I'm a bit of a freak, isn't it? Or it is my weirdness that makes me get the blame for everything?" Kari asked, getting ready to sulk.

"Oh, my Angel." Sexy said, gently touching the side of Kari's face before turning to face Amy and Rory. "Hello. I'm Sexy." There was a grin on her face, and a smirk on Kari's now.

"Oh, still. Shut up." The Doctor said, not really knowing what else to do now.

"_The environment has been breached. Nephew, kill them all." _The House called out.

Everyone looked around the console room, looking for the green eyed Ood. "Where's Nephew?" Rory wondered, not being able to see him anywhere.

"He was standing right where you materialised." Amy pointed out.

They watched as the Doctor's face fell slightly. "Ah. Well, he must have been redistributed."

"Meaning what?" Rory asked, needing to know what had happened, the same as everyone else.

"He's in the air. You're breathing him." Kari told him, trying her best not to gag at the thought of what she was breathing.

Amy pulled a disgusted face and put her hand over her mouth and nose, trying to protect herself from the Ood particles in the air. "Oh, come on."

"Another Ood I failed to save." The Doctor said sadly.

"_Doctor. I did not expect you." _House said, making Amy and Rory feel slightly nervous still.

"Well, that's me all over, isn't it? Lovely old unexpected me." The Doctor said, walking around the console, sounding rather calm and in control.

"_The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity."_ Suddenly they were all forced to the ground, an unseen force keeping them there. _"Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke."_ He done as he said, and sucked all the air from the console room, leaving them choking and gasping for breath.

"You really don't want to do that." The Doctor tried to call, watching as Kari struggling to breath as well. Her eyes were wide with fear, and he just wanted to get over to her and help her.

"_Why shouldn't I just kill you now?" _

"Because then I won't be able to help you." The Doctor told him, as House let them breath once more. "Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. Right now I'm your only hope for getting out of you little bubble through the rift, and into my universe." He said. "And mine's the one with the food in."

Kari heard Sexy whisper to Rory, whispering the word water. She made her way back over to her to help while the Doctor continued to deal with House. "You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all, just promise." The Doctor finished, watching Kari out of the corner of his eye and glad she seemed to be okay.

Amy looked at him in shock. "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word."

"Doctor, she's burning up." Rory called, checking Sexy over. She was lying on the flood, looking very unwell. "She's asking for water."

Kari just shook her head. "Hang in there, you sexy, magnificent, old girl. It will be over soon, I promise. The Doctor knows what he's doing." She whispered to her, trying to reassure her that everything really was going to be okay.

"I always liked it when he called me old girl." Sexy whispered back to her.

That was when the Doctor and Amy came over as well. "Hey, just a little long, old girl." The Doctor said, squeezing her hand a little.

"_You want me to give me word? Easy. I promise." _House called to them all.

"Fine. Okay. I trust you. Just delete… oh, er, thirty percent of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate subroutine Sigma Nine." The Doctor replied, waiting fro his plan to come into play.

"_Why would you tell me this?" _

"Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I'm nice." The Doctor said, getting back to his feet.

"_Yes, I can delete rooms. And I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor. Very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lord. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris."_

Kari closed her eyes tightly, as they were all taking over by a blinding light. She felt something shifting, something changing around her, and she opened her eyes when she heard the Doctor's voice. "Yes. I mean, you could do that, but it just won't work. Hardwired fail-safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main console room. But thanks for the lift." There was a smug grin on the Doctor's face as he spoke, and Kari couldn't help but smile as well.

"_We are in your universe now, Doctor. Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."_ House gloated, trying to make himself seem even more scarier.

"Fear me. I've killed them all." The Doctor replied gloomily.

"Oi, not all of them." Kari called over to him, giving him a wave. "But you know what, it looks like House has won."

The Doctor nodded at her, the fainted glimmer of a smile on his face. "Yeah, you're right. You're both right, you've completely won. Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us, allow me and my friends, Kari, Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent."

The Doctor gave Amy a little nudge and she joined him in give a round of applause. "Congratulations." She called, playing along with the Doctor.

"Yep, you've defeated us. Me and my lovely friends here, and last but definitely not least, the TARDIS Matrix herself. A living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body." The Doctor said, looking over at her. "And look at her."

"Doctor, she's stopped breathing." Rory told him, the concern in his voice.

"_Enough. That is enough." _

"No, it's never enough. You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely, a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live." The Doctor explained. "Look at her body, House."

"_And you think I should mourn her?"_

At that point Kari stood up a smile working its way onto her face. "No" She said, getting everyone's attention. "He thinks you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room. You took her from her home." Kari could feel her eyes starting to burn slightly. The woman's body that was on the floor convulsed slightly, the golden mist expelling from her mouth. "But now she's back in the box again, and she is free."

Suddenly the golden stream flew around the console room, floating through the air, making Kari smile even more.

"_No. Doctor, stop this. Argh! Stop this now." _House cried, as the TARDIS reclaimed her place in her home.

"Oh, look at our girl go. Look at her go. Bigger on the inside. You see, House?" The Doctor said, beaming away himself.

"_Make it stop."_

"That's your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you are just so small." The Doctor said, ignoring the pleas for help, for him to call her off.

"_Make it stop."_

Kari stepped over to the Doctor, and slipped her hand into his. "Finish him off, girl." The Doctor said, waving a hand and turning to the console. The eerie green colour that had taken the warm, orange glow started to disappear, leaving the room dark.

"Doctor? Angel? Are you there?" They both turned around when they heard the voice. "It's so very dark in here."

They walked over to where a figure stood, this figure of the woman who had become their TARDIS. "We're here." The Doctor told her, holding onto Kari tightly.

"I've been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now." She told them both.

"What word?" The Doctor asked.

"Alive." Kari and the woman said at the same time. "I'm alive." The woman finished.

The Doctor frowned. "Alive isn't sad."

"It is when it's over." Kari said once again at the same time as the TARDIS.

"I'll always be here, but this is when we talked, and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you both."

"Goodbye?" The Doctor suggested, thinking that was what she wanted to say.

"No. I just wanted to say hello. Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you. Hello, my Angel. I'm glad to have meet my precious girl." There were tears in Kari's eyes, as well as the Doctor's.

"Please. I don't want you to… please…" The Doctor said, trying to keep himself together.

"Don't leave us…" Kari whispered. "I need you…" But it was too late, the figure faded and the TARDIS returned to its normal warm glow. "We need you."

The Doctor pulled Kari closer towards him, wrapping his arms tightly around her as they both struggled to deal with the emotions that they were feeling. The TARDIS had answered so many questions for Kari, but that had just led to so many more.

"I can't… I just…" Kari mumbled, pulling herself away from the Doctor and charging off through the TARDIS and locking herself in her room. Her mind was turning everything over, and trying to make sense of it all.

She looked up at the ceiling, knowing that she would be listening to her. "I need you, and so does the Doctor. We both need you so much." She whispered, getting a sad hum from the ship. Kari took a deep breath and let some more tears stream down her cheeks.

She knew that the Doctor would be fixing something, and sending Amy and Rory off to bed. But right now she didn't know if she could face him, not with the amount of questions that were swimming in her mind. She needed to talk to someone, someone who understood her situation, but wasn't the Doctor.

* * *

**A/N: Has anyone worked it out yet? Anyone at all? Someone must have worked it out.**

**Okay, so I took a long time to sit down and seriously think about this episode, and I did, and I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out.**

**Once again, thank you all for the fantastic reviews, you guys totally rock! And thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed, you guys rock too.**

**The next episode that is due is going to be a pretty tough one for Kari. I finished writing it all a few hours ago now.**

**Anyway, keep those wonderful reviews coming, and I will keep on track with my writing.**

**Pippa.**


	39. The Calm Before the Storm

**A/N: Okay, you guys really are awesome. So on with the** story.

* * *

Kari woke to someone gently knocking on the door to her bedroom. She had fallen asleep on her bed, mentally exhausted like she seemed to be most of the time these days. After a moment of being in a daze, she stumbled over to the door and slowly pulled it open.

"Hey, uh, I just wanted to come and make sure you were okay." Rory said, standing at the door nervously. "You disappeared pretty quickly last night, we're all worried about you."

Kari forced herself to smile at him, it was nice of him to actually come and check on her. "I'm fine. Just trying to pull myself together and sort a few things out in my head."

"Well, you know, you can always talk to me." Rory offered, making an effort to try and get to talk about what was wrong.

"Let's go grab some tea." She said, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her. "I take it the Doctor is fixing something that isn't broke?"

Rory couldn't stop himself from smiling at her. "Yeah, and Amy is still trying to get him to take her to Rio."

"You know, I'm pretty sure I could get us there, but I somehow doubt the Doctor will let me pilot." Kari told him as they strolled towards the kitchen. "He's very protective of his beloved ship."

"He's pretty protective of you as well." Rory pointed out to her. "He's been really worried about you."

Kari let out a sigh as Rory put his hand on the handle, opening the door to the kitchen. "He worries too much. He always has and he always will. No matter what I do, he is always concerned."

"Yeah, but he only worries because he cares about you, Kari." Rory told her, turning the kettle on and grabbing two mugs out from the cupboard. "You know, when Amy told me about everything that you three had been up to before I tagged along, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." He admitted.

Kari chuckled a little. "Why? Because we met Churchill and a few Daleks? Almost got killed by statues, or maybe it was being fed to a Star Whale?" She asked, sounding rather amused. "The Doctor and I have been in much worse situations and came out of it alive."

"But that doesn't stop him from worrying." Rory told her, leaning against the counter as he waited for the water to boil. "I'm always worrying about Amy, and she worries about me as well, it's normal."

"Come on, Rory, what's the point you're trying to make here?" Kari asked, leaning back in the chair at the table. She knew there had to be some reason for him coming to her room and offering to listen to her.

Rory let out a sigh as he carried two steaming mugs of fresh brewed tea to the table. "Talk to him, he's worried about you. So much has happened recently, I think he just needs to have you around him."

"Is this that big secret that you're all keeping from me?" She asked him, picking up her tea and a sip of it. "You know, this one where the Doctor and I say nasty things."

"Amy and I know the pair of you will sort it out, but he doesn't. He's scared he is going to lose you, Kari."

"He's not going to lose me." Kari told him, letting out a sigh of her own. "We've had fights before, and we've both gotten over them. Sometimes I may need my space to just clear my head, but I'm not going to walk out on him, not again."

"Again?" Rory questioned, putting his mug down on the table.

Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, a long time ago, longer for him than it was for me. But anyway, we had a massive argument, and I mean it was so big that I called him a lot of things. We both lost our tempers, we both said some really horrible things to the other. Then I walked out on him."

"And he let you go? The Doctor let you walk out?" He seemed to be amazed at this new piece of information.

"Yeah, in fact, he was the one who dropped me off on Earth. I, er, had a friend come and pick me up." Kari told him. "But like I said, I'm not going to do that again, it will not happen." That was when Kari realised something, something just clicked at the back of her mind. "Wait, so that was why he was so nervous when he saw me. He thought I was packing up my things to leave."

"He was coming to find you, to talk to you. You must have been gone for not even an hour when he went to look for you." Rory told her, turning his attention back to his tea.

Kari looked up at him. "And what about the way you and Amy were acting?" She asked. "Is that because of what happened with me and the Doctor, or something completely unrelated?" His eyes suddenly shifted and he looked anywhere but at Kari. "Hmm, so it's something unrelated. Possibly what you, Amy and River witnessed at Lake Silencio?"

Rory took a deep breath before looking back up at her. "You already know what happens?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Of course I know, Rory. The spaceman, the shooting, the death. So just be honest with me, Rory. Was that the reason you and Amy were acting so weird, or do I have something else to look forward to?"

There was a sad smile on his face now. "Spoilers."

"Great, something else I have to look forward to." Kari moaned, draining the rest of her tea. "Come on then, I suppose I had better go and show my face to the Doctor."

"Kari, everything will be okay."

She just smiled at him as she linked her arm through his. "I know they will, Rory. And you should know that everything will be okay as well. I know a lot has happened, and I know a lot is still to come, but whatever happens, the Doctor and I will sort it."

He just looked at her as they walked. "You know something more, don't you?"

"Spoilers." She whispered to him, just as the reached the console room.

As Kari suspected, he was in his little swing seat, fiddling with things that he really didn't need to be touching. Amy smiled at the pair as they walked in, not at all phased by the way Kari was hanging onto her husbands arm.

"You okay, Kari?" Amy asked, walking over to the pair.

She nodded at her. "Yeah, I'm good. How about you? Can't have been much fun having House playing with your mind. I know what he did to you, the things that you saw, Amy." Kari told her seriously. Amy had seen her husbands decaying corpse, and the word 'kill Amy', 'die', and 'hate' scrawled on the walls of the corridor.

"It wasn't much fun. But we got through it all okay." Amy replied, taking Rory's hand as Kari released him.

"How's Mr Grumpy been?" Kari decided to ask, nodding over to where the Doctor was still working away.

"Very grumpy. Something's wrong, but he won't talk to me. I can't get him to say anything, he just mumbles something and then carries on with what he is doing." Amy told her, glancing over at him, a concerned look on her face.

Kari let out a sigh. "I guess I had better go and talk to him then. You guys going to be okay if I drag him off and we disappear for a while?"

"Too much information." Amy cried, pulling a disgusted face.

Straight away, Kari turned red. "Shut up, Amelia. I do not mean anything like that. I can't talk to him in here, because he will keep finding something to distract himself." She protested, not liking having to explain herself to Amy, or anyone else.

"Kari, go and talk to the Doctor." Rory said, giving her a little nudge.

She simply rolled her eyes at him as she strolled down to where the Doctor was working. "Uh, hey." Kari mumbled, her eyes darting quickly to the ground.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "Hi." The Doctor tilted his head, wondering why she wasn't able to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Can we… can we talk?" Kari asked him nervously.

"Of course we can, you know that."

"Not here. We need to… can we go somewhere else? Just us?" The way she was acting was actually stating to worry the Doctor even more.

The Doctor was then quick to get out of his swing and took a tight hold of Kari's hand, twisting the finger on her ring a little as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. He led her through the TARDIS, and stopped when they reached his room.

The two of them stepped inside, heading over to the worn leather sofa that Kari had never really noticed in there before. "Kari, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked her, the worry had still not left his face.

"You need to stop worrying about me so much." She told him, playing with her hands in her lap. "Whatever happens, and wherever I go, I will always come back to you."

"Where has this come from?" He seemed to be a little confused now, not really able to understand the point she was making.

Kari just let out a sigh. "Yes, I walked out on you once. I was angry, and so were you. Both of us said things that hurt the other, and I left." She explained, trying to make sense of everything she wanted to say herself. "When I leave you, it is never by choice. I have to go, I have to leave you in one place to find you in another."

"I know you don't have a choice, Kari, but there are so many times that I wish you did." He told her. "If only there was a way we could stop all this jumping. If only we could understand it better."

"It's never going to stop." She told him, taking a deep breath. "We both know that. Just always remember that I never plan to go anywhere, and I will always come back to you. I know that's what you're worried about, that I'm going to disappear and never come back."

He frowned at her. "How did you work that one out?"

Kari shrugged at him. "It wasn't too hard to work it out in the end. Rory helped me a little as well."

"So, is that all you wanted to talk about?"

She shook her head at him. "I have so many questions still, about who I am and how I came to be here. I know someone may have answered some of them." Kari said, getting a light hum from the ship. "But there are still so many more things that I just don't understand."

"There are always going to be things that we don't understand, that can't be explained." The Doctor told her, trying to just reassure her a little.

"Yeah, but after a while, it gets tiring and all I want is answers." Kari admitted. "Before I met you, I had a family, well, I had my dad. But now, I'm never going to see him again. He has no idea where I am, or what happened to me. I don't even know if he remembers me." That was when the tears started to build in her eyes.

"Karianne Conner has never existed. I know, because I looked. There is no record of you ever living on Earth, no parents, no home, nothing." The Doctor told her, putting his arm around her and trying to calm her down a little.

"But I have to have come from somewhere. Everyone has parents, we all come from somewhere. I mean, I may not be human, but I'm pretty sure I should have parents out there somewhere." She said, trying to keep herself in control and to stop the flood from breaking through.

The Doctor just pulled her closer to him and held her even tighter. "I know, Kari, I know. None of this has been easy for you, and I know it never will get any easier for you. But I understand, and I will be here for you every time that you feel you can't cope and want to break down."

That was all Kari needed to just release all the build up frustration that she had. After talking with the TARDIS, she was so much more confused now than she had been before. It was just a never ending cycle for her, the moment she felt happy, like she was finally forgetting her past life, something happened and just ripped it all apart.

"Do you promise that you will always be there?" Kari mumbled through her sobs.

The Doctor just reached out for her left hand and twisted the ring around that was on her finger. "Of course I promise. I promised you a long time ago that I would always be there for you, no matter what."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Theta. I'm struggling to remember my life before you found me, and… I don't think I want to remember it."

"How old were you?" He asked her, making her look up and frown at him. "When I came to your garden, when you insisted that you were human."

"I… I don't remember. Uh, 26, I think. How can I not remember? How can I not remember my own birthday?" It was clear she was getting even more worked up now.

"Hey, come on, it's okay, Kari, it's okay. There is nothing wrong with not being able to remember, honestly, it's okay, it's nothing to worry about." The Doctor told her, cupping her face in his hands and brushing away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks with his thumb. "Please, don't cry Kari, I can't… I can't bear it when you cry."

She let out a soft chuckle through her sobs. "She said that as well."

"Who?" The Doctor wondered whom it was that she was talking about.

"Sexy. She told me that both of you hate to see me cry." Kari told him, remembering the words that had come from the TARDIS when she was trapped in that human body.

"Well, she's right. I do hate it. I know that sometimes you need to just let it out, but it doesn't stop my hearts from breaking at the sight of it." He told her honestly. "Now, is my beautiful, brilliant Kari ready to have some more adventures? Or does she want a day off?"

"You'd really take a day off? Just because I wanted to spend the day hanging around the TARDIS doing nothing much at all?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.

He smiled softly at her. "Kari, I would do anything for you."

"Anything?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, a plot forming in her mind.

"Anything." The Doctor replied, kissing the top of her head.

A grin started to take over her face. "Well then, if that is the case, you can sit with me and watch a few musicals. Starting with the fabulous Oliver!"

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle. "And why do you suddenly want to go and watch that?" He wondered.

"You said you'd do anything, and now I've got that stupid bloody song from that musical stuck in my head. The only way to get rid of it is to go and watch the film." She declared, giving herself a rather valid excuse.

He shook his head at her, not being able to stop himself from smiling. "Come on then, we can go and watch Oliver! If that is what you really want to do?" Kari just nodded at him. "Well, come on then. You know, most of it is pretty accurate, well, apart from the happy ending where he finds his family. That never happens."

Kari just frowned at him as they walked to the place she now called own, personal cinema. "And you would know this because…?"

The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her. "Time machine. Plus, we have met Charles Dickens, it was based off his book."

"I know that you moron." Kari replied, whacking his arm a little. "It was taken from his book 'Oliver Twist' and it's a pretty good book at that."

"Are we going to invite the Ponds to come join us?" The Doctor wondered. He loved spending time with Kari, and just her, but sometimes he felt like he was neglecting his human friends.

"We can ask them." Kari said. "Hey, Sexy? Would you mind sending the Ponds this way? I think it's quality family time." There was hum from the ship, which made Kari smile. "Thank you."

"Family time?" The Doctor asked her, giving her a strange look.

"Uh, yeah. We're all one big, happy, dysfunctional, time travelling family. Whether you like it or not." She said, before reaching up and giving him a peck on the lips.

A few minutes later, Amy and Rory came rushing into the room. "Is everything okay? We were kind of just told to come here." Amy asked as she looked at the Doctor and Kari in a bit of a panic. She thought something terrible had happened, when she saw the message on the scanner telling them to both head to the TV room.

"Everything's fine. We were just wondering if you wanted to sit down and watch a few films with us?" Kari asked, a grin on her face. "Starting with the epic musical that is Oliver!"

Both of the Ponds let out a breath. "Oh, okay. Yeah, why not." Amy said, letting a smile form on her face. "What do you say, Rory." She said, looking to her husband.

"Sounds great."

"Brilliant. Family movie day." Kari called, bouncing over to the large sofa and throwing herself down on it. "Well, come on! I need to get this stupid song out of my head, and as I explained to the Doctor, I can only get rid of it by watching the film."

Amy and Rory both chuckled at her, while the Doctor shook his head as he sat down next to her. Kari quickly shifted so that she was cuddled up to him while Amy and Rory took their place on the sofa beside them.

The Doctor was about to pull out his sonic screwdriver, ready to play the film, when the screen suddenly came on by itself. "Thank you, Sexy." Kari whispered, knowing that the ship had done it for them. As always, she received a light hum from the ship, making her smile just that little bit more.

They all managed to survive the first musical, even with Kari and Amy singing every single song that came on. They even got up and done some little dancing and acting during it as well. The Doctor couldn't help but smile and laugh, while Rory seemed a little bit more embarrassed at what his wife was doing.

"Right, what next?" Kari asked, looking directly at Amy and no one else. "And don't you dare say Grease." She warned. That was one musical that she did not want to sit and watch. She had seen it so many times already, she was sick to death of it.

"Okay, how about… The Wizard of Oz!" Amy called, getting rather excited.

A grin spread across Kari's face as both men let out a groan. "Amy, that is a perfect choice. You know all the songs to that one as well, I take it?"

Amy nodded. "Of course."

"Well then, that's decided. The Wizard of Oz, if you please, Sexy." The moment Kari had finished speaking, the screen flicked back on and the film started playing.

Kari had to admit, she was really enjoying herself. It was nice to spend some time with the people that she now called her family. It still hadn't really sunk in that she would never see her real family again, but she hadn't really thought about it much. She knew that she could never go back to the life she had before, or see the people she once knew. This was her life now, amongst the stars and with the Doctor.

"Who's hungry?" She called once their second musical had ended.

"Me." Rory said, straight away.

"What about you two?" She asked, looking over at Amy and then at the Doctor.

"Yeah, I could eat." Amy said, uncurling herself from her husband.

"What about you, mister? You're being awfully quiet." Kari said, looking at the Doctor with a frown on her face.

"Okay, where do we want to go?" He said, just kissing the top of her head and ignoring her comment about him being quiet. The truth of it was, he had been busy thinking, about so many different things. He had been thinking about Amy, and what had been going on with her recently as well as worrying about Kari.

"Actually, I was thinking I could cook for everyone." Kari told him, turning a little red. She liked cooking, and she missed doing it. The three of them just looked at her, clearly surprised by her suggestion. "But if you guys want to go somewhere for food then that's fine." She added quickly after seeing their faces.

"No, if you want to cook then you can. We might need to go and do a little bit of shopping first though." The Doctor said, giving her one of his best smiles.

"Right then, mind if we take a short trip to Earth, 21st century if you don't mind." Kari said, pulling herself away from the Doctor, only to fall straight back onto him when the TARDIS started to shake.

Everyone looked around in fear, wondering what had caused the sudden movement. "Uh, Doctor, what was that?" Rory asked, holding onto Amy tightly.

"Ah, I think the old girl is taking us exactly where Kari wanted to go." He said. "Maybe I had better go and check."

"Come on then, you lot." Kari called, pushing herself off the Doctor. "Let's find out what's going on and then go do some shopping. I'm sure there are more things we need to get, so let's do this." For some reason, she sounded really excited, and she felt it as well.

Over 2 hours later, the four of them returned to the TARDIS, arms full of bags. The TARDIS had indeed taken them to Earth, 2012, but not just to a supermarket so that Kari could get all the things she needed for dinner. They had ended up at a shopping centre, which meant that Kari and Amy got to do a little bit of extra shopping while they were there.

"Okay, I'll go and get started with dinner. I'll let you all know when it's ready." She said, taking the other food bags from the Doctor.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" The Doctor asked her, watching her closely.

She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling at him. "I think I can manage to make a meal for all of us without getting anything wrong."

"Okay, you know where we are if you need anything." He said, kissing her cheek before letting her go to the kitchen.

Once she reached the kitchen, she dumped all the bags on the table and started emptying them out and putting everything away. The only thing she left out was the stuff she needed for dinner. "Uh, could I have some music on please?" She asked, grabbing a pan from one of the cupboards.

The room was soon filled with all the pop music from her time, and a smile crept across her face. "Thanks. I like a little bit of music while I'm cooking."

While Kari was doing her cooking, she was dancing and singing away to the tracks that the TARDIS was playing for her. It was less than an hour later when she had finally finished and was dishing everything up on to the plates. She was just getting ready to go and tell everyone that dinner was done when the door opened.

"How's it going in here?" The Doctor asked her, poking his head around the door.

"Perfect timing, it's ready." She told him, setting the plates down on the table. He opened the door all the way to reveal Amy and Rory standing there behind him. "Have you been spying on me?" Kari asked, frowning a little.

"Uh, no, that was the Doctor." Rory pointed out. "He was keeping check on you."

Kari just looked at the Doctor, giving him a very disapproving look. "Well, come on. Dinner is getting cold." She said, shaking her head and walking over to the table.

As they all started eating, Kari looked at them expectantly, waiting to find out what they thought of her cooking. It wasn't long before the first comment was made, from the Doctor. "Kari, this is lovely. Maybe I should get you to cook more often."

"You know, this is better than any spaghetti bolognese I have ever had." Rory said, shoving some more into his mouth.

Kari couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. Is yours okay, Amy?"

"It's lovely. You know, I love my Italian food."

A smirk formed on Kari's face. "Just how you like hot Italians. Good job you were a Roman for two thousand years, Rory."

Everyone at the table laughed and carried on eating. Kari was pleased that everyone seemed to be enjoying what she had made for them all. It was something she was always cooking at home, but it was always just for her a no one else. She thought it was nice to cook for other people for once.

By the time they had all finished, they were all stuffed and relaxed. Well, everyone except for Kari. She ran a hand through her hair, rubbing her head slightly and trying not to make it obvious what she was doing. Only the Doctor had spotted it. "Kari, what's wrong?"

She wanted to shake her head but knew that was a bad idea. "Nothing."

He let out a sigh. "You've got a headache coming on, haven't you?"

Kari closed her eyes and took a deep. "A bit, yeah." She should have seen this coming, she should have known that she was going to get a headache and end up jumping somewhere else.

"Come on." He said, getting up and holding out his hand for her.

As she got up and looking over at the Ponds. "Sorry guys. There's desert in the fridge, so help yourself. I'll see you guys later."

"We'll see you soon, Kari. Take it easy, yeah?" Amy said, coming over and giving her a quick hug.

Rory was next to hug her. "Try not to cause too much trouble." He whispered to her, before the Doctor led her out of the room.

She quickly found herself in the Doctor's room, and her head was spinning madly now. "Blimey, it's never been this bad before." She mumbled, gripping onto the Doctor tightly.

"I'll see you soon." He told her, pulling her closer and kissing her.

"Bye Doctor." She whispered, noticing the golden glow start to grow around her. She looked at him one last time before she was completely taken over and pulled away from one of the most normal days she had had in such a long time.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all so much for being so totally awesome. I love your reviews and that there are so many people out there reading and enjoying my story. **

**Now, quite a few of you have asked me when I'm going to be doing Doctors 1-8, the answer is… soon. I'm getting together a load of classic episodes, which is proving rather expensive, so that I can watch and write. **

**However, I don't think I will be posting those episodes in this story. I know there are a lot of people out there who haven't really seen Doctors 1-8, so I think it would be better to keep it as a separate story. **

**Let me know what you guys think on it. I will probably end up putting a poll up for it. **

**Also, to answer something else, the Doctor is soon going to meet Kari for the first time. This is one thing I have been working really hard on getting right. **

**Anyway, enough of my chatter, I have stories to write! **

**Pippa. **


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